The Milwaukee Brewers were the best team in the NL Central division last year without top executive David Stearns, with a new skipper, and without their ace Corbin Burnes. They also did it without top right-hander Brandon Woodruff, who hasn’t pitched at the MLB level since September of 2023.
That’s when he suffered a horrific shoulder injury and had surgery to repair the anterior capsule in his right shoulder the following month. Woodruff, one of the most underrated pitchers in the majors with his 3.10 career ERA, had to miss the entire 2024 campaign. He tried to pitch to live hitters near the end of the regular season but wasn’t physically ready for it.
Brandon Woodruff is making a strong recovery from his injury
Now, about three or four months later, he is in a very good spot when it comes to his recovery and there is a good chance the Brewers can get him back at some point this year:
According to what MLB Trade Rumors writes, Woodruff told MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy that 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,” they said.
The Brewers and Woodruff are taking things step by step
The Brewers had initially non-tendered Woodruff near the beginning of the offseason but eventually re-signed him on a two-year worth $17 million. What’s next for the Brewers star? He needs to keep increasing his pitch count and throwing sim innings. The idea is to advance to having live hitters soon.
“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.”
The righty is yet to test his fastball velo, because the Brewers wanted him to just test his shoulder and getting his body used to pitching again. Even though Woodruff is targeting opening day, he knows that we might not see him at his best until the second half, when it’s more likely that he gets his stuff and command back.
