CINCINNATI – Brewers pitching coach Chris Hook has known Brandon Woodruff for a decade, having spent time together at Double-A Biloxi in 2016 when Hook was the Shuckers' pitching coach and Woodruff was a 23-year-old with an arsenal built around a power fastball.
So if anyone had a feel for how Woodruff might fare Monday night in his return from another extended stint on the injured list, it was Hook. And he was feeling good.
“The guy knows how to pitch,” Hook said. “He’s going to figure it out, no matter what the stuff is. If the stuff’s good, I think we’re going to be just fine.”
The stuff, it turned out, was good.
Very good.
Back in the Brewers’ rotation after nearly two months on the injured list, the 33-year-old Woodruff retired the first 16 Reds he faced on the way to navigating six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts, including career strikeout No. 900, in Milwaukee’s 2-1 win in 10 innings at Great American Ball Park.
Here’s a measure of how effective Woodruff was on Monday night, and has been on the way to becoming the Brewers’ longest-tenured player: Since 1900, only two pitchers have logged three career starts with one or no hits allowed, no walks and 10-plus strikeouts. Corbin Burnes was the first, including two starts for the Brewers and one for the Orioles. Now Woodruff has become the second.
“Nobody’s shocked,” said manager Pat Murphy. “That’s the truth. That’s ‘Woo.’ He takes craft seriously, and I’m really proud of him and what he did for the club because of the leadership he shows doing that. It’s pretty special.”
Woodruff’s final line was brilliant: Six scoreless innings, one hit, no walks, 10 strikeouts -- and no run support. Neither team managed to score until the 10th, when the Brewers plated a pair of runs without the benefit of a hit. They took the lead on Joey Ortiz’s sacrifice fly and added critical insurance when Garrett Mitchell scampered home on a wild pitch.
Joel Kuhnel slammed the door by limiting the Reds to one run in the bottom of the 10th thanks to a highlight-reel play from third baseman Ortiz and first baseman Jake Bauers, completing a combined two-hitter that began with Woodruff getting stronger with each passing inning.
After some loud contact early, and a fastball that sat between 88-91 mph in the first inning, he hit 92.6 in the second, 92.8 in a five-pitch third, 94.4 in the fourth and 93.8 in the fifth, retiring every Reds hitter who stepped to the plate along the way. Woodruff peaked at 94.9 mph on the way to striking out Reds shortstop Matt McLain in the sixth inning, three pitches after catcher Tyler Stephenson lined a clean single to left field for Cincinnati’s first hit.
“If anyone says they’re not aware if they’ve given up hits -- I mean, there’s numbers, there’s scoreboards everywhere,” Woodruff said. “You’re aware. If you don’t, then something is wrong.”
McLain was Woodruff’s 10th strikeout victim, the right-hander’s 21st career double-digit-strikeout performance. He then retired Reds leadoff hitter Blake Dunn to strand Stephenson at first base and complete a 79-pitch outing. Woodruff stands at 906 career strikeouts and counting.
It was an inspired performance reminiscent of Woodruff’s return to action last July in Miami, when he came back from a long rehab from right shoulder surgery to strike out eight in six emotional innings of his first Major League start in 652 days. This layoff was not nearly as long; he last pitched on April 30 against the D-backs. But it came with similar unknowns, since Woodruff had exited that start against Arizona in the second inning over major velocity concerns.
After making a pair of Minor League starts, the latest an 82-pitch outing for High-A Wisconsin last Tuesday in which Woodruff worked into the sixth inning, the Brewers activated him from the IL on Monday afternoon and optioned left-handed reliever Drew Rom to Triple-A Nashville.
Just like last July, Woodruff looked right at home.
“His fastball definitely plays up,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “And he slowed us down, and then he elevated and he got it past our barrels pretty consistently. Then he’d throw a changeup, breaking ball -- located it really well. He’s a good pitcher. He hadn’t been locating in some of his rehab starts but certainly did tonight.”
Murphy described it this way: “It’s pitching in its greatest form.”
That wasn’t the case at the start of Monday night. Woodruff was so out of rhythm in the windup that he nearly made a change in the early innings to pitch exclusively out of the stretch. Instead, he battled through it.
He was glad he did.
“I just try to put the ball in good spots, and the hitter tells me everything,” Woodruff said. “If I’m seeing that guys are late, whether it’s 90-91 [mph], it still plays. And I try to treat it that way.”