Brandon Woodruff hasn’t pitched since September 23, 2023, as a shoulder surgery the following month cost the right-hander the entire 2024 season. It also cost him what likely would’ve been a big long-term contract in free agency this offseason, and the injury also temporarily cost Woodruff his spot on the Brewers’ roster, as Milwaukee non-tendered him last winter before re-signing him to a two-year contract worth $17.5MM in guaranteed money.
The expectation was that Woodruff would be able to return to the mound in 2025, and in an interview with MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy earlier this week, Woodruff said he’s “in a really, really good spot” in his recovery. He was given the go-ahead by Dr. Keith Meister (his surgeon) to go ahead with his standard offseason ramp-up process, and Woodruff is currently throwing twice-weekly bullpen sessions of fewer than 30 pitches.
The next steps will involve extending the pitch count and tossing multiple simulated innings, then facing live batters. Brewers assistant athletic trainer Bryn Hester has worked with Woodruff “multiple times” this offseason, and Woodruff is slated to visit the team’s spring camp site this week to throw at the Brewers’ pitching lab. Notably, Woodruff hasn’t tested his velocity this offseason, which was a planned tactic so he could focus simply on testing his shoulder and getting accustomed to pitching again rather than trying to hit any checkpoints on his fastball.
This focus on process is perhaps why Woodruff can’t yet guarantee that he’ll be ready for Opening Day, even though “I can tell you my mindset is to get ready for that.” Woodruff told McCalvy that he views perhaps as much as the first half of the season as something of an evaluation period, as it might not be until later in the season that he’ll have his old velocity and full command of his pitching repertoire.
“The further I get out, the more months that I get under my belt, the better it is,” Woodruff said. “Really, these first couple months coming up during the season are crucial. I think if I can get through those okay and do just fine, I’ll be okay.”
Woodruff also revealed that he was aiming to try and pitch to hitters in a live batting-practice setting by the end of the 2024 season, though his shoulder “just wasn’t ready. Like, I couldn’t do it. And now I look back on that, I’m like, ’Gosh, that wasn’t but three months ago, and look at where I’m at now. I’ve made so much progress.’ ”
A longtime staple of Milwaukee’s pitching staff, Woodruff has a 3.10 ERA and two All-Star appearances over his seven seasons and 680 1/3 innings in the big leagues. Even while battling shoulder problems throughout the 2023 season, Woodruff still managed a 2.28 ERA during his small sample size of 67 innings, helping lead the Brewers to another division title.
The full-powered version of Woodruff projects to be the staff’s ace, or at least co-ace along with Freddy Peralta. The two right-handers figure to headline a Brewers rotation that also includes Tobias Myers, Aaron Civale, and new acquisition Nestor Cortes, though there’s naturally some flexibility built into that group based on Woodruff’s recovery timeline. DL Hall and Aaron Ashby are the top depth starters, and a reunion with veteran Wade Miley also seems a possibility, though Miley is undergoing his own recovery from a Tommy John surgery last April.
It obviously shouldn’t be taken for granted that Woodruff will be able to regain his old form, given the severity of his injury and his lengthy layoff. However, if he can pitch like something close to his pre-surgery self, Woodruff will line himself up nicely for a longer-term free agent contract next offseason, as he’d surely decline his end of a $20MM mutual option for the 2026 season (and pocket the $10MM buyout).
Since Woodruff turns 32 next month, it might be that his surgery cost him the opportunity to truly maximize his earnings. As we’ve seen many times over, teams are still willing to pay good money to pitchers with checkered injury histories, even for pitchers who don’t have Woodruff’s strong track record. The cost-conscious Brewers might well have traded Woodruff last winter (as they did Corbin Burnes) if he’d been healthy, but the club will instead hope to have Woodruff again helping the club reach the postseason, and this time make a deeper run into October.
I’m hoping for big things from Woody this year
Doesn’t really sound like the Brewers will be getting the old Woodruff back unfortunately. Shoulder injuries can be worse than UCL’s. Bad timing for him financially. As a Cub fan I’m kinda quietly rooting for him.
No matter what team a player is on or how I feel about him. I’d never wish injury on him. I hope he recovers and has a good year unless it’s against the Cubs then I would want him to give up 6 homeruns in a row and give up 10 ERs.
FTC
Sorry I only know the OTC. What does FTC mean?
Same from this Cardinal fan. Any fan should want to see an exceptional talent come back strong from an injury.
AATC
Might be the best 18th round pick for a lot of fantasy teams this year.
I’d pay close attention to his spring training though. 20th and later might be safer.
Maybe 19th
Late 17th to early 21st
Earlier. Most of the guys picked after the 12th round are replaceable. Got Cole last year in maybe the 10th, and never looked back.
Having Wood and Miley back would be so much fun. Rooting for you both!
Prepare for disappointment Brewers fans. Very few pitchers have come back and been anywhere near as effective after shoulder surgery. Looks like a year where the Cubs not the Brewers will take first sadly.
Fans and pundits say variations of this every year, no matter what the Brewers do or don’t do in the off-season. They’re usually wrong. I don’t see any evidence that the other teams in the Central, Cubs included, have done much to close a 10 game gap until proven otherwise.
Except for the Brewers coming back to them.
September they really do just seem to have a winning attitude or something, they lose players to trade or injury and don’t add much to replace them and yet some how end up taking the division. They even lost their manager
It’s not much of a division though
you also have to consider the brewers have not done much to maintain that gap as right now (and correct me if i am wrong) they are coming back with the same team minus adames and williams lowering that gap some and cortes is the big acquisition and woodruff who is a wildcard and first year back from it is usually on the lesser side.
They are also at about the same payroll already so i dont foresee a big free agent addition or trade unless they send out hoskins.
Cubs have traded away but i think overall are better than last year as they filled the gaps solidly and they are going to get crow for a full year hopefully and still are about 40 million under last years payroll.
So maybe a game or two add from the cubs with a 5 game drop (loss of adames and williams) from the brewers makes that gap fairly small.
It’s a big if, but a full season of yelich healthy could make a difference. His surgery this past offseason should, in theory, eliminate the back issues that have plagued him for last 4-5 seasons.
Just imho, Cortes + Woodruff will provide the same bWAR as Adames (3.1) and Williams (1.4) did last year. Williams only played 2 months last year, and Megill did a pretty good job when Williams was out.
Most Brewer fans began preparing for disappointment as soon as the injury occurred and the severity was made known.
At this point I think we’re just hoping he’s not disappointed if he can’t make it all the way back..or close..to what he was before.
As for the division race, whatever. For the last decade it seems all the experts have insisted THIS is the year the Brewers fall off and start an extended rebuild. Eventually it will happen, but I’m fairly certain nobody is too concerned with the Cubs overtaking them for the division.
The Cubs will take first? You mean for the first time since 2017 because they have improved SO much this season? Oh, please don’t count the Covid 2020 season, 6o games, that’s embarrassing.
The Brewers have a strong team and a solid rotation even without Woodruff. The Brewers have won the division back to back and 3 out of the last 4 years. Make it 3 in a row for 25 and 4 out of the last 5 years.
Obviously you don’t realize what having Jed Hoyer for a POBO means.
The Pirates and Reds will be the top two teams in the division.
Mets as a reds fan I would love this, it would be even cooler if the whole division was really good and stop being called a very winnable division.
I truly believe this will happen this year. Cubs and Brewers get all the press for being NL Central favorites but I think this year they will be fighting for 3rd place.
There is a very good chance I’m completely wrong but I think this is the year that the Reds and Pirates young talent steps up and propels them to the front of the division.
@rafa
They’ve also only won TWO playoff games since 2019 so winning the central is neat and all but it hasn’t really done much for the chest puffing
Yeah and the Cubs have won ….none since 2017.
@rafa why not go back another couple of years? i did last decade
brewers have won 8 games never making it past the nlcs
cubs have won 22 including a world series win.
hmm roughly 3 times the wins and a world series
someone has to be the cowboys of baseball.?
>He was given the go-ahead…to go ahead
That’s some swell sports writin’!
I think this was a communication error, and he actually was given a goat’s head so he could bring back the billy goat curse against the Cubs.
Hoping he’s back to his old form or something close to it.
I hope so, seen plenty of him against the Cubs. When healthy, he’s a fantastic pitcher. Hopefully he’s a thorn in the side for the Cubs!
Guy’s cooked. At best, he’ll be a mop up guy in the pen.
Next!
It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. …
@MrSeptember
That assumes I care what random Internet users think. LOL!
Woodruff at the backend of the rotation behind Peralta/Cortes/Civale/Myers isn’t bad at all for thr Brewers if he’s healthy
Anything they get from Woodruff will be a bonus. Still surprised they let Rea go.
No disrespect to Rea but he looked beyond terrible for the last few months of the season (even with the Brewers team gold glove defense)
Even Woodruff doesn’t believe he will regain his form.
Ha ha. Good point. He doesn’t sound entirely sure.
Big Woo is back. It looks like Murph is getting a guaranteed 200 innings with 160 Strikeouts this year. If not we have a built in excuse of what went wrong. And we all get to watch it on Fan Duel for free
I wanted the Braves to gamble on him like they did with Kirby Yates. 17-18 mil over 2 years for 1 year of potentially ace stuff is totally worth the risk in my opinion. Oh well.
Brandon, the experts who advised you to throw prematurely made a serious error. There is no valid reason coming off an injury to throw to hitters at seasons end. Rest never hurt a pitcher. Taking breaks doesn’t hurt a pitcher. Trainers and therapists rely on pitchers needing their services in order to make a living. If you rest they won’t have any work and won’t get paid.
Roger Beshens doesn’t experiment with pitchers; instead he works with their natural abilities and teaches them successful techniques.
When Roger Beshens introduced his revolutionary Football Slider in May 2018 there were no labs or classes specifically teaching about his invention.
Hi Roger!
A lot of pitchers who had surgery on their arms threw too soon. It is not wise to throw at seasons end when taking a break and resting your arm would not cause any harm. Resting at times can be more beneficial than taking advice from someone who has experienced the activity before.
$17.5MM looks relatively cheap now for a gamble on Woodruff.
Love this guy. Basically the Kershaw of the brew crew. Hope he comes back strong and remains a brewer for the rest of his career.