This story was excerpted from Adam McCalvy's Brewers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
MILWAUKEE – With Brandon Woodruff landing on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation on Friday after his velocity plummeted in an abbreviated start against Arizona the day before, the Brewers have one option to fill that void already in the big leagues.
Rookie left-hander Shane Drohan, who already made one Brewers start in an April 8 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park, has made three encouraging relief appearances since rejoining the Major League club last week. None was bigger than his four emergency innings after Woodruff’s early exit, for which Drohan was rewarded with his first Major League win.
He threw 60 pitches on one day of rest. Drohan -- ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Brewers' No. 24 prospect -- referred to the extended, impromptu outing as “nothing I couldn’t handle.”
“I felt like we were all ready to go,” he said. “Whatever the team needed, everyone was willing to go do it. Sometimes that can happen. It’s just part of the game, so you have to be ready.”
Jacob Misiorowski also gave the Brewers a scare during Friday night's 6-1 win over the Nationals. The right-hander exited a dominant start, in which he had no-hit the Nats through 5 1/3 innings, with a right hamstring cramp, but manager Pat Murphy said postgame that they "feel pretty good about it" and that they are "hopeful" the issue won't open up yet another void in the rotation.
Drohan’s stuff has played up in his bullpen appearances, which isn’t particularly surprising considering the cold weather in Boston for his only start, and that a relief setting doesn’t demand a pitcher keep stamina in reserve.
“It all starts with commanding the fastball,” Drohan said. “Everything plays off of that. It’s having a good mix with all the pitches, but mainly with the fastball. I’m putting it in the zone where I want it, elevating, down at the knees. It all starts there.”
The Brewers have other options to start should they prefer Drohan in the bullpen while left-handers Angel Zerpa (forearm) and Jared Koenig (elbow) are on the IL. Right-hander Logan Henderson (No. 6) has been thriving at Triple-A Nashville, throwing five innings with nine strikeouts in his most recent outing on Sunday. Another right-hander, Coleman Crow (No. 26), is coming off his best start of the season for Nashville, a scoreless 5 2/3-inning outing with one hit in Game 2 of a doubleheader on Thursday.
Both Henderson and Crow have already started Major League games for the Brewers this season.
The club also has right-hander Quinn Priester and left-hander Robert Gasser (No. 16) in the pipeline, though health will determine their availability. Priester continued a rehab assignment on Friday night (allowing five runs in two innings), and Gasser is trying to get into a rhythm after struggling to recover from some early-season outings. He last pitched in Game 1 of Thursday’s doubleheader.
If Drohan gets the call, he’ll be aiming to build on career victory No. 1 in Thursday’s win over the D-backs.
“It felt great,” Drohan said. “We got the first one out of the way. Hopefully, a lot more to come.”