MILWAUKEE – The Brewers began the second half bracing to deliver bad news about franchise mainstay Brandon Woodruff, whose shoulder setback appears to be season-ending.
You can add it to the long list of pitching concerns that were facing the National League Central leaders as their schedule resumed on Friday night.
"The outlook isn't good. You guys have determined that already,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy told reporters in his afternoon briefing. “But I'm going to let Woody be the one to announce what he wants to announce in that regard.”
Woodruff, who was pulled from a July 4 start against the D-backs amid another precipitous drop in velocity, landed on the 15-day injured list the next day, and was diagnosed with a new injury to his previously-repaired shoulder capsule. He was shifted to the 60-day injured list on Sunday in the first sign that the diagnosis was dire.
He had only just rejoined the team coming out of the All-Star break on Friday afternoon when reporters approached to request an update about his health, and big news for the family. Woodruff’s wife, Jonie, delivered the couple’s third child this week, a healthy baby boy they named Walker Neal.
And with his bobblehead day on deck Saturday afternoon at American Family Field, Woodruff requested a couple of days to enjoy his blessings before talking about what’s next for his career.
“It's extremely painful to even think about, knowing what he meant in this organization and knowing what he meant to this team,” Murphy said.
Woodruff, 33, was Milwaukee’s 11th round Draft pick in 2014 and is 55-30 with a 3.10 ERA over parts of nine seasons. He is a two-time National League All-Star and owns the best ERA in franchise history among pitchers who have logged at least 500 innings.
That was only one of several news items on the pitching front:
• Jacob Misiorowski, MLB’s leader in strikeouts and ERA, emerged from the All-Star break rested, according to Murphy, and will slot back into the starting rotation during the Brewers-Mets series that runs from Monday to Wednesday. The Brewers scratched Misiorowski from his final start before the break in Pittsburgh, citing arm fatigue.
• The team activated newly-acquired right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. from the injured list and plan to use him out of the bullpen to begin his Brewers career. Milwaukee acquired McCullers in a trade with the Astros on Wednesday along with left-hander Colton Gordon, who was optioned to Triple-A Nashville to join the Sounds’ starting rotation.
• To make room for McCullers, the Brewers optioned left-hander Jared Koenig to Nashville. A durable reliever who was an unsung hero for their division-winning clubs in 2024 and ‘25, Koenig missed much of this season with a left elbow injury and didn’t possess the same pitch properties upon his return.
• Left-hander Kyle Harrison, on the 15-day IL with left forearm tightness, underwent an MRI scan over the break but said there wasn’t any setback. Rather, he hopes to get some reassurances as he attempts to work through discomfort, beginning with a bullpen session scheduled for Saturday.
“It was just, ‘We’ve got the time, let’s do it,'” said Harrison, who is eligible to return from the IL beginning July 24. “It gives me the confidence to just hit it in the second half, full speed ahead.”
It’s going to take every available arm for the Brewers to do that. They began the second half with the second-best record in the Majors at 59-37, the most wins in franchise history at the All-Star break.
“There’s a certain trust I have in this team. I just believe,” Murphy said. “They understand what the goals are, what the standards are, regardless of the injuries or the situation. I’ve watched them care about that.”
McCullers hopes to contribute. He won a pair of World Series with the Astros in 2017 and ‘22 but has been limited to 94 2/3 innings by various arm injuries since then.
“I feel good. I had three rehab starts and got up to almost 80 pitches my last start,” McCullers said. “I’m not sure what the role will be here moving forward, but one thing I’ve always tried to hang my hat on is be a great clubhouse guy and do what I can for the team. Whatever they ask of me, that’s what I’ll do.”
That may be just the kind of guy the Brewers need right now.
“Again, we set a franchise record in the first half for wins. But because our standards and expectations are what they are, nobody feels that,” Murphy said. “Nobody feels like, ‘Oh, this is awesome!’ Everybody feels like we’re in the thick of it, and now we have more and more injuries. More and more guys down, starting with [Quinn] Priester and [Angel] Zerpa and now Woody.”
Priester is out for the year following surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome.
Zerpa is out for the year following Tommy John surgery.
Woodruff will reveal what’s next for him in the coming days.