Brandon Woodruff Injury Update
Brandon Woodruff, the big-hearted engine of the Milwaukee Brewers’ rotation, just can’t catch a break, honestly, it hurts more than the actual injury sometimes. After battling back for nearly a year and a half after shoulder surgery, Woodruff had barely settled back into his groove this summer before a stubborn lat injury slammed all that momentum into a brick wall, just as the Brewers were gearing up for the October run.
In a recent update on Twitter, Jack Stern reported that Pat Murphy confirmed Brandon Woodruff will not pitch in the NLDS. However, Murphy reassured that Woodruff's surgically repaired shoulder is now "100% healthy."
The timing? Absolutely brutal. Murphy, Milwaukee’s manager, was frank Friday: Woodruff wouldn’t make an appearance in the NLDS against the Cubs, not even as a break-glass reliever. Fans, maybe holding out hope for some playoff magic or adrenaline-fueled miracle comeback, had to let that one go. Murphy went as far as saying that a return in the championship series would still be “a little early” for Woodruff, which, if you’re a Brewers diehard, probably stings as much as remembering all those years that felt like “this might actually be the year.”
Stephen Watson shared on Twitter that Brandon Woodruff will not pitch in the NLDS, but Matt Arnold hasn't ruled out the possibility of a postseason return for the pitcher.
The team clinched early and got a breather at least, which is something, not everything, but something. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that Woodruff’s lat injury is totally unrelated to his surgically-repaired shoulder (Murphy says the shoulder’s “100% healthy,” so at least we’ve got that in the bag), and he’d been pitching beautifully before being sidelined: twelve starts, 3.20 ERA, 84 Ks, and a WHIP tighter than a drum.
The personal side of it always creeps in, though; after two years spent rehabbing, dreaming about pitching in precisely these big-ticket moments, being forced to watch from the bench must feel like a cruel twist. And with free agency looming, this injury could mean a much longer, more complicated story for Woodruff, whether in Milwaukee or somewhere entirely new.
The Brewers, meanwhile, will soldier on, mixing pride and worry, and maybe just maybe stretching this playoff run long enough for their ace to get one more chance at postseason glory. If you’re a regular at American Family Field, maybe just send good vibes from the bleachers. It’s not much, but sometimes baseball is about hope almost as much as the stats.
