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Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff will begin a rehab assignment on Saturday with the Nashville Sounds, Milwaukee's Triple-A affiliate. It's the latest step in Woodruff's return to the rotation following a lengthy absence. He hasn't appeared in a big-league contest since Sept. 23, 2023 on account of shoulder surgery to repair a torn capsule.
Woodruff, 32, enjoyed an accomplished career prior to suffering the injury. Across seven seasons, all as part of the Brewers organization, he amassed a 3.10 ERA (137 ERA+) and a 4.48 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His contributions were worth an estimated 16.7 Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball Reference's calculations. Woodruff also made two All-Star teams and finished fifth in 2021 National League Cy Young Award voting.
Major League Baseball's rules dictate that Woodruff (and all pitchers) have up to 30 days to complete a rehab assignment. Positional players, conversely, get up to 20 days. As such, Woodruff should be in line to return to the Brewers rotation in a matter of weeks.
That's good news for a Brewers club that could use it. The Brewers are currently without starting options Aaron Ashby, Nestor Cortes, DL Hall, Tobias Myers, Robert Gasser, and Aaron Civale (who suffered a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury). In turn, the Brewers have had to trade for Quinn Priester and bring up Jose Quintana, who they signed to a one-year pact back in March. Rookie Chad Patrick has also been tasked with making his first career big-league starts.
Nevertheless, the Brewers entered Saturday with an 8-6 record on the year, good for first place in the National League Central. Milwaukee is 8-2 following a 0-4 start to the year. The Brewers will seek their fourth consecutive series victory on Saturday against the Arizona Diamondbacks and former Milwaukee ace Corbin Burnes.
