CINCINNATI -- Brandon Williamson has battled through a lot to get back to the Majors after Tommy John surgery on his left elbow in Sept. 2024.
This season has been one filled with ups and downs. Wednesday night’s 13-2 loss to the Rockies fell into the latter category.
The 28-year-old -- who earned the fifth and final spot in the rotation out of Spring Training as Nick Lodolo worked through a blister on his left index finger -- left after just three innings with left shoulder fatigue.
“We're going to get him an MRI [Thursday] morning, and we'll have more information, hopefully, but right now, that's where we're at,” Reds manager Terry Francona said.
Williamson has been through so much to get to this point. Now, all he can do is hold his breath and hope this is just standard fatigue.
“I'm kind of battling that and going to get it checked out [Thursday] and see what [the doctor] says,” Williamson said. “But I feel like I've been really kind of just trying to battle the fatigue of coming back. I haven’t been pitching for two years and I'm not including before Spring Training, and now I'm close to 50 innings. So even if I didn't have surgeries, I'd probably be at that point, but that just kind of adds to it.”
Williamson allowed four runs on four hits. He walked four and struck out four. He threw 58 pitches (33 strikes) and left as the Rockies kept pouring it on.
“[It was] the command, the walks, it's a hard way to be successful, and he knows that,” Francona said. “And you could tell it was really bothering him. So I'm glad we got him out when we did.”
Francona said Williamson would have likely gone out for a fourth inning, but when he started talking about the fatigue in the dugout and dropping his shoulder, the decision was made for him.
“When you start talking to a guy, and they start talking like that, it's hard to ever send somebody back out like that,” Francona said.
Williamson (2-3) saw his ERA rise to 6.11 over six starts. Most troubling are his 20 walks and 19 strikeouts in 28 innings, with a WHIP of 1.64.
Before the game, Francona noted how the lefty is still working himself back into a comfortable rhythm, and some of the inconsistency and unevenness can be attributed to Williamson’s struggles early in the season.
"It's been 15 months, and like when you're going through rehab, you have your daily routine,” Francona said. “Now you're back on a five-day routine, which he wasn't doing, and I don't think it's just your arm. I think it's your body. I think it's everything."
Williamson was one out away from getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the first, but Colorado catcher Brett Sullivan drove a 1-1 sinker from Williamson down the right-field line. By the time Spencer Steer grabbed hold of the ball, which hit underneath the top padding of the wall and fell to the warning track, three Rockies runners crossed the plate for a 3-0 Colorado lead.
Sugano splitter too tough
Tomoyuki Sugano (3-1) held the Reds in check to the tune of four hits over 5 1/3 scoreless innings, and had a nice defensive play behind him to end the first inning. With Matt McLain at second base, Sal Stewart singled up the middle. But shortstop Ezequiel Tovar knocked the ball down on the grass in short center. McLain tested Tovar by attempting to score, but Tovar got up quickly and threw a strike to Sullivan, who made the tag on McLain at the plate.
“I thought the split was kind of the equalizer for him. He could get his fastball by our barrels at times up, but then the split really gave us fits,” Francona said.
Jose Trevino pitches, Will Benson homers
Jose Trevino took one for the team Wednesday night, allowing five runs on six hits in his one inning of work in the ninth. Will Benson kept the Reds from being shut out with a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth, his first homer of the season.
After going 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday, the Rockies made the most of their scoring chances in the first three innings. They started 2-for-4 Wednesday, including an RBI double from Willi Castro that made it 4-0.