MIAMI -- Saturday’s 4-2 Brewers loss to the Marlins means that the series will be on the line when the teams meet again Sunday afternoon at loanDepot park. All the better for Brandon Woodruff's long-awaited return from right shoulder surgery. Seven years into his tenure with the franchise, Woodruff long ago established his reputation as a competitor.
This will be his biggest test yet. The 32-year-old will have gone 651 days between appearances in the big leagues before he coincidentally climbs the same mound on which his career took an unexpected detour in September 2023.
“I think we’re all just stoked for him,” said first baseman Rhys Hoskins, whose left thumb injury was among the unfortunate events that befell the Brewers on Saturday evening. “I saw a lot of him in rehab mode last year and I know what that’s like to miss a full year. But I also know what it’s like to compete against him, and that’s not an easy task. That’s not a fun one as a hitter.
“I think we’re just excited to see him back on the mound, and we’ve got a chance to win a series, which I know he takes pretty seriously as well. I’m just excited for him to compete. I know he misses that.”
The opportunity has been a long time coming for Woodruff, whose last appearance in the Majors was a Sept. 23, 2023, start in Miami in which his velocity dipped and his results suffered, but followed with a celebration anyway. The Brewers clinched a postseason berth that night with first baseman Rowdy Tellez on the mound to record the final outs, but since they still had a division title to secure they skipped spraying the clubhouse with champagne and held a toast instead.
Then-manager Craig Counsell gave a speech saluting the core players, including Woodruff, who had been with the Brewers since the start of their recent run of regular season success in 2018.
No one knew then that it would be so long before Woodruff stepped on a mound again. There was major shoulder surgery that October, then a multi-year comeback that was delayed twice by a right ankle injury in May and a comebacker off his pitching elbow in June while on rehab assignment.
Now, after topping 95 mph during one final start for Triple-A Nashville on June 29, he’s ready for the big leagues.
“What I want most for him is just to get back out in his element,” said Brewers pitching coach Chris Hook, who goes all the way back to Double-A with Woodruff. “I think that will put him in a better mental state instead of, ‘I’m in a rehab state.’ That’s what I’m excited about for him -- to be hunting in his own grounds again.”
What is Hook expecting to see?
“I think he’s going to go out there and compete and see where we’re at, get a baseline and then kind of continue from there,” Hook said. “I can’t say it’s going to be this or that because I don’t know. I’m just going to let him go out and enjoy the day and compete and be excited about it. And after that, we’ll be able to say this is where we think we are, and then we’ll be able to build from that.”
Woodruff threw 53 pitches in his last start for Nashville and topped 70 pitches as recently as June 28, so he is sufficiently built up to deliver bulk for the Brewers if the game situation dictates it. But manager Pat Murphy will be mindful of the emotional toll on Woodruff after so long an absence.
“It could take a lot out of him. It could be two great innings and then…” Murphy said, making a noise like the air coming out of a balloon. “But he’s a member of the Milwaukee Brewers now. I will be emotional. It will be an emotional day because anybody who’s been around Woody during his climb in the Major Leagues knows who he is and what kind of competitor he is and just what a beautiful spirit he is.
“He needs to be taken care of in a healthy way, but he has a responsibility and he takes that seriously. He will go out there and compete. He’s been up to 85 pitches and there’s no reason he can’t do that again, but with the emotion and the adrenaline, we want to make sure it’s not dangerous. If we see a huge drop in his stuff, we’ll make a move.”
When Woodruff last took the mound in Miami, he was riding a stretch of success, with no sense of the trials to come.
“That seems so long ago,” Hook said.