Brandon Woodruff left Saturday’s start in the fourth inning after throwing only 61 pitches, and experiencing a significant velocity dropoff from the beginning of the game. Afterwards, Brewers manager Pat Murphy said Woodruff would likely be placed on the 15-day injured list.
Woodruff will undergo tests to determine the exact nature of the shoulder discomfort, but the initial diagnosis is “it’s kind of the same thing he had before,” Murphy told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Curt Hogg and other reporters. “It’s in the same area, same spot. That cyst develops. He’s got that tear in the labrum there and that cyst develops, it flares up.”
Woodruff underwent surgery on that torn labrum back in September 2023, and that rehab process and a couple of minor setbacks kept Woodruff off a big league mound until July 2025. He then tossed 64 2/3 innings of 3.20 ERA ball over 12 starts before a lat strain sidelined the righty just before the start of the postseason.
After accepting a one-year, $22.025MM qualifying offer to return to the Brewers, Woodruff has again dealt with injuries in a prior IL stint this season. Deemed just as shoulder inflammation or “dead arm” at the time, Woodruff underwent a minor surgical procedure in early May to drain some fluid and eliminate a cyst that was causing the inflammation outside his right shoulder joint.
Saturday’s outing was just the third start back for Woodruff since being activated from the injured list, and he’ll now miss more time. The recurrence isn’t a surprise, as Murphy said Dr. Keith Meister (who performed the surgery in May) informed Woodruff that “this will happen again” in regards to the inflammation.
As one might expect, Woodruff told Hogg and company that “it gets a little frustrating dealing with this,” as the right-hander wants to stay healthy and contribute to a division-leading Brewers team. “It’s the nature of my throwing shoulder now. It kind of comes in waves now….I’m in a good spot mentally with it. I know what’s before me. I know what I’m dealing with. If I can avoid some things it just becomes, ‘Get back on the field and pitch, and help them win.’ ”
The fact that Woodruff has remained a very effective starter surely adds to the frustration for both the player and the team. Even after allowing three runs in yesterday’s injury-shortened outing, Woodruff still has a 2.98 ERA, 27% strikeout rate, and a 5.7% walk rate over 45 1/3 innings this season. His 3.64 SIERA reflects Woodruff’s fortunate .207 BABIP, yet it’s clear Woodruff still has plenty left in the tank at age 33, just as long as he is healthy enough to take the mound.
It remains to be seen if another minor surgery may be required, but using Woodruff’s prior IL stint as a rough blueprint, another seven-week IL stint would put Woodruff out of action until the end of August. Assuming this is the case, the question then becomes whether or not Woodruff can stay healthy throughout the length of a Milwaukee playoff run, or how the fluid nature of postseason pitching assignments may impact Woodruff’s arm if he needs to have his workload managed.
Milwaukee has the second-best record in baseball (54-33), and the Brewers hold a six-game lead over the Cubs for first place in the NL Central. The team has managed this success despite some notable pitching injuries beyond just Woodruff’s issues, as Quinn Priester was lost for the season due to thoracic outlet syndrome, and both Logan Henderson and Coleman Crow are currently on the 15-day IL. Henderson and Crow are both on rehab assignments and Henderson is likely to be activated within the week, so the Brew Crew at least have a ready-made replacement for Woodruff.
In the bigger picture, Woodruff’s status makes it even more likely that Milwaukee will look to add rotation help prior to the deadline. (Earlier this week, I explored this possibility in the Brewers trade deadline outlook piece for MLBTR subscribers.) Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison project as the top two starters in a playoff series, but with Woodruff not a sure thing to be healthy, it makes sense that Milwaukee would seek out a more experienced arm than internal options like Henderson, Brandon Sproat, or Shane Drohan. The Brewers have the minor league depth to explore any number of trade candidates, whether that’s an innings-eater type or more of a frontline ace to pair with Misiorowski.
