The Brandon Williamson Hype Train

For the first time in his professional baseball career, walks haunted Brandon Williamson during the 2022 season. Split between AA Chattanooga and AAA Louisville, his BB/9 spiked to an unsightly 5.6 in his first stint in the Cincinnati Reds system, up from just 3.0 in 98.1 IP the previous year while still on the Seattle Mariners farm.

Still, the stuff was there, it just needed a little bit of refining - refining that appears to be on display early in camp in Goodyear. It’s earned him early rave reviews and the first start of Cactus League play this weekend. Given the murky news surrounding Justin Dunn’s shoulder, Luis Cessa set to be away from camp on duty at the World Baseball Classic, and the very few other knowns in competition for spots in the Reds Opening Day rotation, a job now appears to be Williamson’s to lose.

Walks Will Haunt talked with Doug Gray of Reds Minor Leagues and Redleg Nation last night to discuss Williamson’s rise as well as a handful of other topics - potential prospect emergence, early injury news in camp, Elly De La Cruz, & more. That big orange play button on the embed below should allow you access to our dulcet tones, or you can find them by following this link.