CINCINNATI — With Major League rosters expanded from 26 to 28 players for September, the Reds added two players on Tuesday.
As expected, left-handed starting pitcher Brandon Williamson was activated from the 60-day injured list. Also, infielder Juan Brito was recalled from Triple-A Louisville.
Williamson had a 6.11 ERA in six starts this season before going on the IL with left shoulder fatigue. After rehab assignment games in the Minor Leagues, he is scheduled to start on Wednesday against the Padres.
After that, Williamson will piggyback behind Chase Burns during the All-Star's remaining starts. Burns' next scheduled start is Monday against the Dodgers.
Brito came to the Reds at the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline in a deal that sent first baseman Nathaniel Lowe to the Guardians. After he made his big league debut this season with Cleveland, Brito batted .176 in 15 games
A switch-hitter, Brito plays mostly second base and third base. He started at second base on Tuesday vs. San Diego, in part because of issues involving shortstop Elly De La Cruz and third baseman Eugenio Suárez.
"The main reasoning was kind of two-fold," manager Terry Francona explained. "One, Elly is DHing, probably, the next couple of days. Also with Geno down in Miami becoming a citizen, which we fully backed and supported in that, we just didn’t want to get caught short. This, hopefully, can give us a little bit of [protection] in case something ever happened. We just want to make sure we don’t get caught short.”