The Brewers announced today that they’ve placed right-hander Brandon Woodruff on the 15-day injured list with a right lat strain. Woodruff’s IL placement is retroactive to September 18. Left-hander Robert Gasser was recalled from Triple-A in a corresponding move and is slated to start today’s game for Milwaukee.
Woodruff’s retroactive placement on the shelf means that he’ll be eligible to return in time for the start of the NLDS on October 4. Of course, that would require Woodruff to be shelved for only a minimum stint on the IL, which is far from guaranteed. According to Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Woodruff is suffering from a “moderate” lat strain in the words of manager Pat Murphy, and it is too early to tell how Woodruff’s playoff availability may be impacted by the injury. MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reports that Woodruff is seeing a doctor in St. Louis today in order to get his injury assessed after the strain occurred during the righty’s bullpen session on Saturday.
At the very least, the news brings Woodruff’s regular season to an abrupt end. Woodruff will end the regular season with 12 starts under his belt, and a 3.20 ERA/3.18 FIP in 64 2/3 innings of work with a sensational 32.3% strikeout rate. Woodruff made just 11 starts in 2023 due to shoulder issues and ultimately went under the knife in October of that year. That caused him to miss the entire 2024 season, and an ankle injury during his rehab this season delayed his return to the big league mound until early July. He immediately slotted back into the top of Milwaukee’s rotation upon his return, and helped to sustain the hot streak that thrust the Brewers to the best record in all of baseball.
The timing of this latest ailment is surely frustrating for both the Brewers and Woodruff himself, given its proximity to the playoffs. Woodruff acknowledged as much himself in comments made to reporters (including McCalvy) this morning. Woodruff noted that he “wasn’t surprised” by the injury and noted he’s been managing his shoulder for some time, adding that a setback could have occurred in June or July and that it’s just “crappy timing” that this happened to come up right before the postseason.
With Woodruff sidelined, the Brewers’ potential postseason rotation is in flux. Freddy Peralta and Quinn Priester appear to be locks to start playoff games, but there’s little certainty outside of that. Woodruff would obviously get starts if and when he returns, and Jose Quintana could find himself in the conversation as well depending on his own recovery from injury. While those two are shelved, however, they’ll likely be forced to choose between struggling rookie Jacob Misiorowski and fellow rookie right-hander Chad Patrick to round out the rotation. Perhaps Gasser can put himself into the discussion with a strong outing today, but the southpaw has not yet pitched in the majors this year after undergoing elbow surgery last year and has just 38 innings of work in the minors under his belt this season.
As a Brewers fan… frick!!
Lat strains are bad. Even mild ones require weeks off. I think his next pitch will be in 2026.
Not for the Brewers though. They have to pay him $10m to release him and $20m to keep him. The injury just made that decision easier.
It might not be that cut and dried. because of Woodruff’s loyalty and the likelihood that he would give the Brewers room to maneuver. Maybe he would agree to a $20M two-year deal to stay.
Its a mutual option, so Woody will almost certainly trigger that if MKE doesn’t, he gets 10 million when he opts out. Hopefully they can work something out after that.
Don’t mutual options require both parties to trigger? Which is why they are rarely excercised?
Nothing wrong with this they obviously will get a bye first round. Let him rest up and look at guys to decide who will be in playoffs bullpen. Make sure important players don’t get injured. Seeing all these other teams losing guys who are important.
This is quite a bit more serious than “nothing wrong with this.” Strains classified as “moderate” are usually grade 2, meaning he’s likely to be shelved for 4-8 weeks. If it’s on the short end, do they immediately throw him back into the fire without ramp up time? If it’s on the long end, he’s done for the season.
Sounds like he can come back one day before the playoffs… resting him?
I dunno, Woody sounded pretty disappointed, my money is on his season being done. When a player is getting 2nd opinions, thats rarely a good thing.
Could actually be a minor thing, and hes close to 100% for the NLDS, but seems like the initial prognosis wasnt so rosy.
Phillies have got to be the favorite to make it to WS at this point.
Duran looks like the best deadline pick up vis a vis team need. Having Trea back at full strength is key; but the odds on that look good. Castellanos’ tur… in the punch bowl notwithstanding, the Phillies narrative is very positive.
We’ll see. Lat strains seem to linger and are easily aggravated. I’ve seen plenty of players go on the 15 day and end up out for two plus months
Yeah, resting him by sending him to the doctor?
Even aside from that, MLB isn’t like it was in the old days. The league no longer looks the other way when you claim an injury just to bring another guy up.
He’s done for the year.
The Brewers will be fine. He’ll return just in time to start the NLDS with some steroids in his system. And since this is the Brewers team that MLB overlooks all violations of MLB rules. He will look like a hero who pitches awesome in the playoffs.
Just like Kirk Gibson. Who could hardly walk or stand, but was strong enough to come out of the trainer room and hit a HR in the 1988 World Series.
Ah yeah, you’re just being dumb.
Am I?
For Major League Baseball (MLB) players, the penalty for a positive steroid test is a series of escalating suspensions without pay.
Current penalties for a positive test for a performance-enhancing substance include:
* First offense: An 80-game suspension.
Ryan Braun’s punishment for using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) was a 65-game suspension without pay, which effectively ended his 2013 season. This came after he was linked to the Biogenesis scandal, a clinic that supplied players with banned substances.
Why wasn’t he banned 80 games, or even more games or banned from baseball for lying that he didn’t use steroids?
Rest my case on Brewers players get away with MLB violations. Every other player who tested positive had a minimum 80 games suspension.
Answer: MLB and the Players Union didn’t institute the 80 game suspension for first time offenders until 2014.
Do your homework before making allegations.
Can we check your credentials stating you’re a real Brewers fan?? I bet it’s fake ID.
Who said anything I was a Brewers fan?
Are you going to acknowledge the faulty example you used to support your conspiracy theory?
Is your tin foil hat too tight?
last minute replacement
hope robert doesnt run outta gas
Good pun, unfortunately they switched Robert to a BP role in Nashville, so he isnt stretched out any longer. Though I do like him and Ashby covering 4-5 innings combined against a lefty heavy lineup.
4-5 innings is doable , just gotta keep the foot on the gas pedal
Happy to see him pitching into the 3rd today, hopefully 4 innings is possible if needed in a couple weeks.
Ashby is extremely underrated….
How is the current state of the Brewers bullpen?? I know they seemed a little bit gassed perhaps at the end of August. Hopefully everyone has gotten their third wind by now and pitching solidly. From what I know, they aren’t missing any key guys at least (errr, unless Megill isn’t back yet.)
Megill is still down, they keep pushing back his hopeful return date, now they’re saying hopefully the last game of the year. Maybe hes down till next year id guessm
Other than him, Grant Anderson is starting to falter a bit. Pen is still okay, if a little thin now. Abner has been lights out, even with his heavy workload.
No problem. They have an incredible all-star phenom in Misiorowski who will fit perfectly in the third spot for playoffs. Obviously sarcasm on my part. Not of his doing at all but MLB adding him to the AS game was horrible. I really do think most of his recent struggles has probably been work load related too. I wish the Brewers nothing but good luck in the playoffs. My Giants won their most recent series with the Brewers but Milwaukee was very impressive, especially their defense. One of the best teams defensively I’ve seen in awhile. Turang is an incredible underrated star. Good luck Brew Crew.
His velo has been down a couple of mph since his return. Not a huge surprise that he has had a setback. I wish him well.
Whyyyyy can’t we have nice things? Ever
Yup.. The Brewers are toast once they head into the postseason.
But… but… I thought tangerinepony said that “the brewers will only need 3 starters for playoffs. Peralta, woodruff and Priester all others will be relievers.”
mlbtraderumors.com/2025/09/brewers-considering-rel…
Some people clearly don’t know what they’re talking about…
Yes, they will only go with 3 starters. Losing woodruff hurts but hopefully he’ll be back in time for the playoffs. Old York.. get a clue
@tangerinepony
I do have a clue. A lat strain is a tricky one for a pitcher. It’s not just about healing the muscle, it’s about how much it affects the delivery and velocity. Moderate (Grade 2, what Woodruff is reported to have): often 2–3 months before ramping back up to full intensity.
He might be fully healthy by spring training if his offseason rehab goes smoothly. But any setback would threaten his ability to build up innings in time for Opening Day. Coming off shoulder surgery in 2023 and missing all of 2024, this adds another layer of concern. Compensation mechanics (protecting the shoulder) can sometimes put added stress on the lat. Many pitchers returning from lat strains regain velocity, but command often lags during ramp-up. It can take time to trust the muscle fully.
The Brewers. They have been hit pretty hard by the injury bug lately. But they always have one more guy. At the deadline many “experts” mentioned that they needed a better bench player than Andrew Monasterio. But he has been great everywhere they have needed him. They’re the Brewers. They already have the next guy. They just haven’t unleashed him yet.
Most teams that lose one of their best starters and their closer before entering the postseason, among other pitching injuries, wouldn’t have much of chance to advance thru the postseason, but this team’s pitching depth is extraordinary.
That “next guy” could be Robert Gasser, SP now recovered from TJ, who has been dynamic at AAA and got the call to start in yesterday’s game. Not fully stretched out, so probably more of a 3-4 inning guy, but with Patrick as a tandem, should be able to cover for Woodruff quite nicely.
Bullpen still has Uribe-Koenig-Ashby, a trio of HL arms that have been lights out this year. Then add Misiorowski in short stints (which he did last year out of the AAA pen and dominated) and that’s a fairly nasty foursome at the backend of the pen.
Mears also in the middle-relief mix with the potential of a Quintana pitching out of the pen if he’s healthy, which he should be healed up from his calf injury before the division series starts.
Also have a good chance to get DL Hall back from his oblique and Logan Henderson from his flexor injury.
I believe Henderson is done for the year.
Brew crew probably peaked too soon. Still wouldn’t count them out. Gotta love baseball.