By KIRK HARDCASTLE
NIACC sports information director
The Cincinnati Reds are the hottest team in baseball.
Heading into this weekend’s home series against the Atlanta Braves, the Reds have won 11 straight games and sit atop the National League Central division with a record of 40-35. It is the first time the Reds have won 11 straight games in 66 seasons.
And all of this coming off of last season’s season where the Reds were a dismal 62-100.
Guys like veteran superstar Joey Votto and rookie phenom Elly De La Cruz have been grabbling most of the headlines for the Reds these days.
But also contributing to the Reds’ success in 2023 is rookie left-handed pitcher Brandon Williamson, the former NIACC Trojan who made his MLB debut on May 16.
“The past few years have been a little thin for them,” the 25-year old Williamson said in an interview on June 12 in Kansas City. “The buzz around the city is definitely growing and around the country.
“We definitely have a really good squad. We’re really young so we have a lot to look forward to.”
Williamson, who pitched at NIACC in 2017-18 and is the school’s career strikeout leader, picked up his first major league victory on June 13 against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
Against the Royals, Williamson allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits with one strikeout and no walks in five innings of work as the Reds claimed a 5-4 win.
“It’s awesome,” Williamson said after his first career victory. “It feels great. I have some things to work on, for sure. Enjoy it and get back after it.”
Fifth-year Cincinnati Reds’ manager David Bell likes what he has seen out of the 25-year old lefty in his first month up in the big leagues.
“He’s got a little bit of everything,” Bell said. “He’s had some really good starts.
“He’s had some tough beginnings to his outings and kept us in there and helped us win games at times. It’s been a great learning process for him. It has not gone perfect. He’s had enough success mixed in there where he’s really starting to believe that he can pitch here, and more importantly, he’s learning what he needs to do to pitch well here.”
Case in point – Williamson’s outing against the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers on June 7 at home in Cincinnati.
Williamson allowed six runs in the first three innings, including home runs to Mookie Betts, Miguel Vargas and Will Smith.
The Reds stuck with Williamson and he pitched scoreless frames in the fourth and fifth innings and he recorded two outs in the sixth inning before getting pulled. The Reds went on to win the game 8-6 in 10 innings.
“It’s a game of adjustments,” Williamson said of his start against the Dodgers. “They jumped on me early and I had to make some adjustments.
“Luckily, we did and it just showed that it doesn’t matter who is in the box. If you make bad pitches, they’re going to get hit. If you make good pitches, you can get good results.”
In his seven starts, Williamson (1-0) has 27 strikeouts and 13 walks in 36 2/3 innings pitched. He’s allowed 38 hits and 25 runs with an earned run average of 5.40.
Williamson has pitched at least into the fifth inning in all seven of his starts. His longest outing was 6 2/3 innings of work against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 2.
“He’s got good stuff,” said Reds’ catcher Luke Maile of Williamson, who lists at 6-feet-6 inches and 210 pounds. ”Anybody with that type of frame and left-handed is always going to have a chance at the highest level here.
“He’s been throwing his fastball pretty well, as of late. He kind of has a really sneaky fastball. He has a curveball that has a chance to be really, really good.”
Before getting called up to the Reds for his first career MLB start on May 16 against the Colorado Rockies in Denver, Williamson was 2-4 in eight starts with the Louisville Bats. He had 27 strikeouts with 20 walks and a 6.62 ERA in 34 innings of work.
Williamson said he immediately felt comfortable at the big-league level.
“I never thought of it as a huge jump,” he said. “I feel comfortable on the mound.
“There’s certain things here – it’s easier to stay healthy with the nutrition and weight room stuff. So there are certain things that are nicer, but the competition is obviously harder. It comes down to making good pitches. It’s the same game.”
Williamson, who was traded to the Reds from the Seattle Mariners in March of 2022, gained a no-decision in his major league debut at the Colorado Rockies.
Against the Rockies, Williamson allowed one run on two hits with six strikeouts and two walks in 5 2/3 innings of work. At one point, he retired 14 straight Rockies’ hitters. He was the fourth Reds’ pitcher in the expansion era (since 1961) to retire at least 14 consecutive hitters in his MLB debut.
“The first pitch I made sure I threw a strike because I know they throw that ball out (for Williamson to keep),” he said of his MLB debut. “The first batter (Charlie Blackmon) actually got a hit, which almost settled me down.
“After that I just tried to pitch. I didn’t really have that crazy of nerves. I got over that pretty quick.”
Williamson made his home debut against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 22 at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. He received a no-decision allowing four runs in 4 1/3 innings of work in a 6-5 10-inning victory.
“It was cool,” he said of his home debut. “I had a lot of family members there. It was a lot of fun to put on the (home) whites.”
Williamson, who was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the second round of the 2019 MLB draft, said his welcome to the MLB moment was his May 27 start against the Chicago Cubs at historic Wrigley Field.
“When we were driving into Chicago to play the Cubs,” he said of it sinking in that he was playing Major League baseball. “I knew I was pitching on Saturday night on Fox.
“Just the drive in – Chicago is huge, Wrigley is unbelievable.”
Williamson’s next start is scheduled for Monday night against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
Camden Yards will be the fifth different Major League stadium that Williamson will have taken the mound at as a starting pitcher. He’s already pitched at Coors Field in Colorado, Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Wrigley Field in Chicago and Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
“It’s been awesome going from stadium to stadium, city to city,” he said. “It’s super cool. It’s hard to beat. It’s super fun, super fun.”
Williamson notes: Entered the season rated by Baseball America as the 10th-best prospect in the Reds’ organization … Was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the second round (59th overall of the 2019 MLB Draft … Was an MiLB.com Mariners’ organization all-star in 2019 and 2021 … When acquired by the Reds in March of 2022, Williamson’s curveball was rated by Baseball America as the best in the Mariners’ organization … In 2016, Williamson graduated from Martin County West High School in Sherburn, Minn. … Played at NIACC in 2017-18 … Is NIACC’s career leader in strikeouts (151) … Ranks 4th on NIACC’s career wins list (12) … Ranks 6th on NIACC’s career innings pitched list (115) … Won 8 games for NIACC in 2018, which is tied for fifth on school’s all-time single-season list … Struck out 104 batters in 66 innings (1.5 per inning) in 2018 … The 104 strikeouts in 2018 ranks 1st on school’s all-time single-season list … Was honorable mention all-Big 12 selection in his one season at TCU in 2019 … At TCU, Williamson was 4-5 with a 4.19 ERA in 77 1/3 innings pitched with 89 strikeouts and 36 walks.
(PHOTOS of Williamson via NIACC)
