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.
