Reds left-hander Brandon Williamson has informed reporters that he has a full tear of his ulnar collateral ligament and will require Tommy John surgery. He will miss the remainder of this season and likely all of 2025 as well. Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer was among those who relayed the message on X.
The news is disappointing but not surprising. Williamson had obviously hurt his arm during last night’s game, as seen in video relayed on X by Pitching Ninja. The club later announced that he had suffered an elbow strain. Further testing has quickly revealed a ligament year, which will force Williamson to go under the knife.
It’s another frustrating development for the lefty, who hasn’t been able to build off his solid debut in 2023. He made 23 starts for the Reds last year, logging 117 innings with 4.46 earned runs allowed per nine. He struck out 20% of batters faced and limited walks to a 7.9% clip.
Ideally, he would have taken a step forward in 2024, but he never really got the chance. He began the season on the injured list due to a left shoulder strain and didn’t make it back to the active roster until September 1. He made just four appearances before suffering this elbow injury, making it mostly a lost season. Given the calendar, 2025 is almost certainly going to be a total wash, as recovery from Tommy John surgery often takes 14 months or more.
Williamson is now 26 but he will turn 28 in April of 2026, when he will be a factor for the Reds again. He should be transferred to the 60-day IL whenever the Reds need his roster spot, but there’s no IL in the offseason. Assuming he hangs onto his roster spot through the winter, he’ll spend 2025 on the IL as well, collecting major league pay and service time. If he does indeed stick on the roster through the 2025 season, he would have two years and 139 days of service time, putting him in line to qualify for arbitration as a Super Two player.
For the Reds, they will have one fewer option for building their 2025 rotation. On paper, they have a solid group that includes Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Graham Ashcraft, Christian Roa, Nick Martinez, Rhett Lowder and Julian Aguiar, though most of those guys have spent significant time on the IL this year, which played a big role in Cincinnati’s disappointing season. Naturally, the club will be hoping for better health next year but one domino has already fallen with his Williamson news. Martinez could also opt out of his contract, something that MLBTR’s Anthony Franco recently explored in a piece for Front Office subscribers.
You gotta feel for the guy, after he worked so hard to make it back this year. Has been good when healthy
Why would the Reds bring back a player recovering from injury for the last month of the season when they were unlikely to make the post-season? Maybe the ultimate outcome would be the same and maybe not. I feel very bad for the player, but question the team’s decision regarding timing.
You have to wonder. More strain on the elbow because of the shoulder injury?
Let’s just institute TJ surgery on all male babies at birth.
This is bothersome at all levels
I picked him up as a hope he went twice this week for my championship game. I feel bad for him
Tough break. Tough tear. Max effort, max stress on ligaments, mass surgeries.
Mass nonsense.
I’m sure the idea was to see if he could make a couple of starts and have a normal off season. This was just the worst case scenario. Hope he comes back 100% because he’s got a lot of talent. Reds are having a year to not remember. Between injuries, Suspensions and general chaos they’re still hanging around .500. Literally better luck next year.
Wow that was fast. And predictable.
I had a feeling when I saw him grab his elbow.
Best wishes for a 2026 comeback!
Tommy John surgery for everyone this year, hurray !!
They did say ligament “year” 😉
Maybe only giving him a 2 inning rehab assignment, where you could monitor his velocity and angle, was a bad idea?
No doubt. I know they needed starters badly but as you said, dude only pitched two innings in rehab.
They really need to take a hard look at conditioning and the medical team in the offseason. Something needs to change.
Just don’t understand the blame game beng assigned to coaches, medical staff, etc. When was excellence acheived without risk, or extraordinary effort?