Reds Notebook: Williamson to the IL, Abbott in the rotation

 

The Cincinnati Reds got some good news about Brandon Williamson, but also delivered some bad news about Brandon Williamson on Tuesday. The good news is that he felt a bit better after dealing with some shoulder soreness when he was pulled from his last start. But the bad news here is that he’s going to begin the season on the injured list and will not throw for at least a few days. Mark Sheldon of Reds.com is also reporting that Andrew Abbott has made the rotation, which seems like it’s directly related to the Williamson news.

With Abbott in the rotation, that sets things up for the start of the season to be Frankie Montas, Hunter Greene, Graham Ashcraft, Nick Martinez, and Abbott as the starting five. What happens if and when Nick Lodolo is ready to come off of the injured list (currently expected to be April 10th) has yet to be stated publicly.

It does seem to be a bit strange that arguably the best starting pitcher for the Reds in 2023 had to wait until an injury to someone else on March 19th to be told he had made the rotation in 2024, but Andrew Abbott is in for the time being. He’s coming off of a rookie season where he made 21 starts and threw 109.1 innings with a 3.87 ERA, 44 walks, and 120 strikeouts.

If it feels like the injuries are piling up for the Reds, it might be because they are. Matt McLain was scratched from Monday night’s game while also dealing with a sore shoulder. There was some good news out of Arizona today on that front as manager David Bell told C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic that he was in the lineup tomorrow, but that he may give him an extra day just to be safe. Rosecrans also noted that outfielder Jake Fraley was feeling fine after fouling a ball off of himself and having to exit the game on Monday.