Reds Rookie Brandon Williamson Likes His Five Pitches All the Same

Brandon Williamson is a small-town kid looking to make a mark in Cincinnati. Selected by Seattle in the second round of the 2019 draft out of Texas Christian University, the 25-year-old southpaw from Welcome, Minnesota (population: 701) was acquired by the Reds from the Mariners as part a six-player trade prior to last season. Since making his MLB debut two months ago, he has a 4.96 ERA and a 5.51 FIP over 11 outings comprising 52.2 innings.

His potential exceeds his modest performance to date. No. 9 on our preseason Reds Top Prospects list with a 45 FV, Williamson has, in the words of Eric Longenhagen, “a good shot to pitch toward the back of a contender’s rotation.” The velocity is nothing to write home about — his heater is averaging a pedestrian 92.5 mph — but as our lead prospect analyst also noted, “His ability to mix [five] offerings in an unpredictable fashion still excites scouts.”

Williamson discussed his arsenal and approach when the Reds visited Boston at the end of May.

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David Laurila: Based on your experience, how do the Mariners and Reds compare in terms of pitching development?

Brandon Williamson: “At the end of the day, it’s still baseball. They’re both trying to get you to throw good pitches over the plate as much as possible. Both value strikeouts, but that’s unanimous around the game. There are maybe a few differences. The Mariners maybe target more shape. I guess that’s probably the biggest difference, targeting more shapes.”

Laurila: There’s less focus on that with Cincinnati?

Williamson: “I wouldn’t necessarily say less, it’s more how they go about it. Seattle is very numbers and TrackMan-driven. Not that here isn’t. I guess you could say that here it’s more of a pitch-use, mechanical way. It’s more of a mix.”

Laurila: With mechanics in mind, I’ve read that command has been an issue for you. Is that still a concern?

Williamson: “It hasn’t been all along. Last year… before that, I wasn’t a guy who walked a bunch of people. I don’t feel like it’s terrible. Is it an issue? You could say that, but it’s not like, ‘Oh my gosh, you can’t pitch.’ It’s more a matter of ‘How can I consistently use my stuff in the zone?’ It’s not that I’m wild, I just need to effectively throw all of my pitches in the zone and be able to repeat that.”

Laurila: Have mechanics been the biggest issue when your command hasn’t been sharp?

Williamson: “It’s just inconsistencies in certain things. My mechanics could be inconsistent. My mindset on things could be inconsistent. I could be trying too many new things, too many different things. That’s the learning curve right now, doing things at a high level repeatably.”

Laurila: Can you give an example of something you’ve tried to do differently?

Williamson: “Well, I’ve been throwing on the first base side of the rubber lately. That’s to give my cutter and slider more room and make them easier to land. The cutter is pretty new to me. I didn’t throw one until the last couple outings of last year and then didn’t really use it at all early this year. I just brought it back recently. I also throw a different grip slider now. That’s since late in spring training.”

Laurila: [Reds TV analyst] Chris Welsh told me that you’ve dialed down your effort level in recent outings. I don’t recall his exact wording, but he said that you’d been trying to force velocity.

Williamson: “I mean, a few starts ago, in St. Louis, I was trying to do too much. I was trying to throw too hard. I was trying to really rip stuff and make it nasty. When you do that, it makes things worse. It makes [pitching] harder, not easier. So yeah, I’ve been trying to get to a point where I feel like I can still move fast and effectively, but at a slower pace.”

Laurila: Overthrowing usually hampers command, but what about movement? Has that been affected when you’ve tried to do too much?

Williamson: “Not really. As long as you can keep that same intent throughout all of your pitches… the whole point of throwing as hard as you on can every pitch is that everything looks similar coming out of your hand. If you can do that while being in control of your body, it’s a good thing.”

Laurila: I recall reading that you were missing above the zone with your four-seamer quite a bit last year. Is that accurate?

Williamson: “That’s very accurate. I’ve never tried to ride the baseball, but I throw it and it does ride. I get some cut, too, but there is ride.”

Laurila: Tell me more about your slider and cutter.

Williamson: “I think of my cutter as a hard slider. I don’t like how slow my sweeper is, although I do like how big it is. I also like having a hard one, and that’s where we emphasize the cutter. I mean, we call it a cutter. Sometimes it’s more of a slider — a harder, cutter-ish one.

“With the sweeper, I’m getting probably eight more inches than I got with my old slider. It was usually around nine to eleven, and now it’s anywhere from 15 to 19. I learned it from Alon [Leichman], our assistant pitching coach. He showed me a grip, a few other things, and I started using it.”

Laurila: How would you define yourself as a pitcher? Are you more power, more finesse…

Williamson: “I try to finesse with a thought process of power stuff. I want all of my pitches to be at least somewhat swing-and-miss. I throw five pitches, and most power guys don’t throw five pitches, so I guess I’m sort of like a hybrid between those. I think that all of my pitches, when they’re on, are really good. I don’t throw 98 [mph], but I do throw with a degree of power.”

Laurila: Grading your pitches, which would you say are above, or below, the others?

Williamson: “I don’t look at it like that. I grade them based on how they’re feeling and how I can use them in a game. I don’t think of one being better than another, it’s more of, ‘When you do you want to use them?’ and ‘Can I use them that day?’”

Laurila: You don’t have what you consider a best pitch.

Williamson: “No. That would almost be unfair to the other ones. I like them all.”

Laurila: Kind of what people often say about children.

Williamson: “Exactly. I like them the same.”