Brewers: Woodruff to injured list, playoffs at risk

Brandon Woodruff to the Injured List: Concern for the Brewers’ Playoffs

The Milwaukee Brewers have placed pitcher Brandon Woodruff on the 15-day injured list due to a strain in his right latissimus dorsi muscle, putting his participation in the playoffs in doubt. Woodruff, who returned this season after shoulder surgery in October 2023, felt discomfort in his triceps during a bullpen session on Saturday. An initial evaluation traced the problem to the latissimus dorsi in his upper back.

This is a side effect of doing this again at a high level, and that’s all. Does this end my career? No, it’s nothing like that,” Woodruff said. “It’s nothing compared to surgery, but it’s one of those things that will heal, it will improve. It’s just a bad moment.

Brandon Woodruff

This news comes four days after left-handed pitcher José Quintana was placed on the 15-day injured list due to a left calf strain.

These two losses leave the Brewers, with the best record in baseball, with much uncertainty about how they might organize their playoff rotation beyond Freddy Peralta and Quinn Priester.

Since he came off the injured list in mid-August, rookie sensation Jacob Misiorowski has allowed 21 runs in 30 and a third innings. The move with Woodruff was retroactive to Thursday. Murphy said closer Trevor Megill, who has been out since late August with a right flexor strain, could return for the end of the season if his bullpen sessions on Tuesday and Friday go well. Quintana has been able to continue his throwing program while working on running to get his calf healthy again. Woodruff, 32, missed the entire last season after surgery to repair a tear of the anterior capsule and is 7-2 in 12 starts since returning in July. Despite his current injury, he said he has exceeded his expectations in terms of limits on the pitches thrown this year between his activity in spring training and the season.

“My biggest goal was to finish the year healthy,” Woodruff said. “Hopefully we win the World Series, and now there’s a month left.”

Brandon Woodruff

Woodruff refrained from setting expectations about his short-term status, and noted that he had not yet been able to visit Dr. Keith Meister, who performed the surgery. Woodruff expected to visit a specialist in St. Louis on Sunday before consulting with Meister. Murphy said that “all indication is that it’s not the shoulder, and that’s a good thing, but this is the kind of thing that happens when you’re recovering from an injury: you injure something else.”