The red flags popped up immediately. Brandon Woodruff’s first fastball of the game came across the plate at 84.2 MPH. I initially thought the radar gun was mis-calibrated, or the system registered an off-speed pitch as a fastball. But then the next one came in at 85 MPH and instantly things looked bad.
Brandon Woodruff looked uncomfortable delivering the baseball. His smooth, repeatable, athletic delivery looked rigid, unathletic, and unusual. He walked Geraldo Perdomo with some really bad misses, but somehow rallied to get a pair of strikeouts and a scoreless first inning.
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Murphy, the pitching coaches, and the athletic trainer all huddled trying to figure out what to do. Woodruff went back out for the 2nd inning as the bullpen stirred, but no one began throwing. After allowing a single to Lourdes Gurriel Jr, the Brewers had seen enough. Pat Murphy, Chris Hook, and athletic trainer Brad Epstein went out to the mound and quickly Woodruff was removed from the game.
His fastball averaged 85.4 MPH and he didn’t register a pitch above 86 MPH. Woodruff’s average fastball velocity this season is 92.5 MPH, a drop of 7.1 MPH.
Pat Murphy on the Brewers TV broadcast said “He wasn’t himself. He felt like, felt kind of dead. He said he didn’t feel any pain, just nothing was coming out. We’ve seen a little bit of this, but never at this level where he can’t get the ball over 85 MPH. He’s so important to us. We’re not going to risk anything maybe long term by having him try to step on it.”
Woodruff missed the entire 2023 postseason and 2024 regular season with a shoulder capsule injury that required surgery. He finally returned to the big league rotation in the middle of last season and found great success. That was until a lat injury prevented him from being able to pitch in the postseason again last year.
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Woodruff came into this season focused on maintaining his health so he could be available all season long and into the playoffs. That’s why his ramp up in spring was slower and why he did not start on Opening Day. The Brewers have been as careful with him as they can be to keep him on the mound throughout the whole season.
This article will be updated as new information is provided from the Brewers on this concerning injury for one of the Crew’s best starters and longest-tenured player.
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