Brandon

Williamson

The 28-year-old Williamson winds up 5-5 with a 5.30 ERA over 12 outings in his return from Tommy John. He’ll probably have a chance to stick around and complete for a spot next year, but middle relief might be a better home for him than the rotation.

Williamson, who had been piggybacking off Chase Burns, excelled tonight in his second major league start since April. throwing just 68 pitches to get 18 outs. He seemed iffy a month ago to stick on Cincinnati’s 40-man this winter, but with his velocity climbing some as he completes his first year back from Tommy John, he’s probably locked up a spot now.

Burns was wild today, walking three and throwing just 28 of his 56 pitches for strikes. Of course, because of the Reds’ plan to restrict his workload, he was going to be done after three innings regardless. Brandon Williamson again piggybacked off him and picked up a win after allowing one run in four innings. The Reds are expected to use the same arrangement again Friday against the Cubs.

Williamson entered with a one-run lead in the fourth, but that didn’t last long, mostly because he walked five (one intentionally) and hit a batter. He’s expected to continue pitching behind Burns for now.

Williamson struck out five and walked two while throwing 67 percent of his pitches for strikes in his return from the injured list. The left-hander sat 90.3 mph on his cutter, which is up over one mph from his average, and posted an 11 percent swinging strike rate. That cutter was the only pitch that reliably missed bats in this outing, but another complicating factor for his fantasy value is that the Reds have said the plan for Williamson is to use him as a piggyback to Chase Burns, who is having his innings limited. That could give Williamson a decent shot at wins, but it’s unclear how many innings he’ll pitch.

According to Joe Banneman from Fox19 in Cincinnati, Reds manager Terry Francona said that the plan is for Williamson to work as a piggyback with Chase Burns for the remainder of the season. The team wants to limit Burns’ innings for the remainder of the season so “after that start, the rest of his starts will have Brandon Williamson as a piggyback in the same game.” It seems like we might be getting one more game with Burns as a full-time starter, and then fantasy managers may need to find other options than Burns if you need wins or quality starts.

He pitched for Chattanooga on Saturday and threw two innings, allowing one run while striking out three. He’s probably going to need a little runway to get stretched out as a starter, but it’s possible the Reds could turn that way later in August or September.

Williamson has been on the shelf with a shoulder issue since late April. The 28-year-old will need a couple rehab outings in the minors before he’s an option for Cincinnati’s rotation at some point later this month.

Williamson was put on the injured list with shoulder fatigue back at the end of April. He has been throwing bullpens in recent weeks and will now move to face live hitters. He could begin a rehab assignment as soon as next week and potentially be an option for the Reds’ rotation if they were to free up a spot in the rotation after the trade deadline.

The procedural move frees up a spot on Cincinnati’s 40-man roster for reliever Tejay Antone. Williamson is facing an extended absence after hitting the shelf with shoulder fatigue last week. He’s battled shoulder issues in the past, so the level of concern here is fairly high. He’ll be out until at least after the All-Star break in July.