PHOENIX -- Opening Day isn’t the target for Brandon Woodruff. A healthy season is.
The 33-year-old Brewers right-hander threw 26 pitches in a simulated game on Monday morning at American Family Fields of Phoenix, his first action against hitters since his comeback season ended due to a lat strain last September.
Woodruff is right on the schedule he set with the team’s medical staff at the end of last year and said he feels strong, but he conceded that he’s behind some of the other pitchers in camp. Manager Pat Murphy acknowledged the same, saying it’s possible that Woodruff will still be ramping up for the regular season when the Brewers host the White Sox for Opening Day on March 26 at Milwaukee’s American Family Field.
“It’s up in the air right now,” Woodruff said. “I know that term’s used a lot. There’s one goal I have this year and that’s to be healthy. I want to be available at the end of the year when it matters most.
“What that looks like early on, it could look a little bit different. Nothing’s set in concrete, though.”
Woodruff hasn’t been able to pitch in any of the team’s last three postseason runs. He was one of the Brewers’ co-aces with Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta when he went down with a shoulder injury in September 2023 that required surgery and sidelined him all of ‘24. He made it back to the Brewers last July and went 7-2 with a 3.20 ERA in 12 starts.
Eventually, though, Woodruff ran out of luck. The lat strain ended his season in the final week of September, then delayed the start of his offseason throwing program until it fully healed.
Along the way, the Brewers extended Woodruff a qualifying offer and Woodruff accepted. He will earn $22.05 million under that one-year deal, representing the highest single-season salary for a pitcher in franchise history.
Murphy conceded that “it’s a definite possibility” that someone other than Woodruff will start Opening Day. If Woodruff misses that mark, at this point the Brewers don’t expect him to miss by much, Murphy said. That’s not because of any setback.
“It’s just, ‘What makes the most sense?’” Murphy said. “We’d love to have him. We need those innings when you’ve got that much inexperience on your starting staff.”
The Brewers are being cautious with a couple of other pitchers, too. Quinn Priester, who dealt with a sore wrist late last year, just threw a similar simulated game over the weekend and is not yet penciled into a Cactus League game. And Brandon Sproat, the pitching prospect acquired from the Mets in the Freddy Peralta trade, threw a simulated inning behind Woodruff and Trevor Megill on Monday.
“We’re just going slow by design,” Murphy said.
Woodruff deemed himself “in a good spot.” He’s expected to throw at least one more simulated game before pitching in the Cactus League.
“I try to compare where I was at this point last year compared to now and it’s two totally different things, which is exciting for me,” Woodruff said. “As you get older you learn your body better and realize what things are important to get ready for a season and what’s not. That’s where I’m at. I’m trying to get ready for a full, healthy season.”