MILWAUKEE – With Brandon Woodruff back at American Family Field on Friday and Quinn Priester on his way, what’s next for those right-handers in their long quests to get back to the mound in the big leagues?
In both cases, the answer was to be determined.
Woodruff, working his way back from right shoulder complications, is coming off 68 pitches (47 strikes) in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League on Tuesday, and the best thing he could say about the experience was that he “got the work in.” It’s not uncommon to hear pitchers describe rehab outings in the lower levels of the Minor Leagues that way, since playing alongside 17-year-olds tends to impact how a pitching line looks in the box score.
Club officials and Woodruff were planning to meet later Friday afternoon to discuss the next step, which will either be another Minor League rehab start next week (Triple-A Nashville opens a series at Memphis on Tuesday and High-A Wisconsin is at Cedar Rapids, Iowa) or a return to the big leagues against the Guardians for what would be Woodruff’s first Major League start since April 30.
Word was that the club prefers that he pitch again in the Minors, but that’s to be determined. The Brewers have not yet announced probable starters beyond their current series against the Phillies.
“Whatever [happens], I think he’s on his way,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.
Priester’s status is much more complicated. Diagnosed with neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome during Spring Training – a compressing of the nerves running down the right side of his neck – Priester is struggling in a major way to find a feel for his pitches. After walking five batters and throwing three wild pitches in an Arizona Complex League start the day before Woodruff’s, Priester has allowed 22 hits and 24 walks, hit four batters and thrown six wild pitches in eight rehab starts totaling 16 innings.
On Thursday, for the second time this season, the Brewers recalled Priester from his rehab assignment. He remains on the injured list.
One pitcher who knows how hard it can be for a pitcher to shake the effects of T.O.S. described it like this: “You try to make an adjustment, and you feel like you’re throwing with your foot.”
There is a surgery to correct compressed nerves, which involves removing a player’s first rib to create space for things to move freely. But so far, the specialists have not recommended surgery for Priester. The Brewers are likely to send him back to Dallas in the coming days for another visit with Dr. Gregory Pearl, one of the leading specialists in T.O.S.
“It is jumping to conclusions a little bit [to suggest surgery],” Murphy said, “but it is at the end of the rainbow possibly for everybody that has T.O.S. You try to avoid it any way you can.”
While the Brewers work through their options with those veterans, they also lost a rookie right-hander on Friday when Coleman Crow landed on the 15-day injured list with a right forearm flexor strain. The club recalled reliever Craig Yoho from Triple-A Nashville for Friday night’s series opener against the Phillies.
Crow, 25, ranks 23rd on MLB Pipeline’s list of the top Brewers prospects. He has pitched both as a starter and a reliever this season, last appearing on Tuesday against the A’s with two scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
Crow underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023 as a Mets prospect. He was rehabbing when the Brewers acquired him in a December 2023 trade for right-hander Adrian Houser and outfielder Tyrone Taylor.