Injured Brewers Starting Pitcher Back on Track with Rehab, Again originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff, who hasn’t pitched in a MLB game since 2023, started his most recent rehab assignment for Triple-A Nashville.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because it is. Woodruff began his first rehab assignment way back on April 12th when he reported to the Sounds. Since then, he has been pulled back and restarted for a couple different reasons.
First, it was a tweaked ankle in the middle of May in what was supposed to be the final rehab outing before his return to the Brewers. That sidelined him for about a week.
Most recently, it was a line drive to the elbow in the beginning of June that luckily only resulted in a bad contusion. That mishap kept him out for over three months. Today, he was back on the mound once again as his newest, hopefully short, rehab stint kicked off yet again.
Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff successfully completed his most recent rehab start.
In what was a comical turn of events, Woodruff’s rehab start would of course end up being delayed by about an hour due to rain. But eventually things would clear up and the Brewers starter would make his way to the mound in the bottom of the first.
Woodruff’s first inning results would be a little rocky. After surrendering a single and a walk and with two outs in the inning, Jacksonville third baseman Grant Pauley would blast a three-run homer to right field. It would take Woodruff 27 pitches to get out of the inning, though the good sign was that his fastball velocity was around the mid 90s.
The next two innings went much better. Woodruff worked around a one-out triple in the second and his own throwing error in the third to record scoreless innings. Then after loading the bases with no outs in the fourth, he would allow one more run while recording two outs before being lifted for a reliever.
Woodruff’s final line for the game was 3.2 innings pitched while giving up four hits, four earned runs, and three walks and striking out one. He threw 82 pitches with 53 of them going for strikes (64.6%).
Despite the actual statistical results, there were three positives that came from the outing. Woodruff’s velocity where it needed to be, he hit the pitch count the team wanted, and most importantly, he left the outing uninjured.
The team had previously said that they may only have Woodruff complete one more rehab start before returning to the big league club. So he could be back with the Brewers as soon as this week’s road series against the Marlins.
If he does return this week, it will be the merciful end of one of the longer, more arduous rehab experiences for a Brewers player in recent memory. It’ll all be worth it for Woodruff to get to put on a Brewers jersey once again.
Related: MLB Analyst Lists Key Brewers Player as Surprise Trade Candidate
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 29, 2025, where it first appeared.