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Milwaukee Brewers: Cases for All-Star candidates

By Kenny Jilek

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MAY 16: Yasmani Grandal #10 of the Milwaukee Brewers celebrates with Mike Moustakas #11 after he hit a two-run home run during the seventh inning of a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on May 16, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Brewers defeated the Phillies 11-3. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - MAY 16: Yasmani Grandal #10 of the Milwaukee Brewers celebrates with Mike Moustakas #11 after he hit a two-run home run during the seventh inning of a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on May 16, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Brewers defeated the Phillies 11-3. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /
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Milwaukee Brewers
LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 17: Pitcher Brandon Wo odruff #53 of the Milwaukee Brewers pitches during the first inning of Game Five of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on October 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Pool/Getty Images) /

Brandon Woodruff

Brandon Woodruff had a rocky start to the season and finished April with an ERA of 5.17. By the end of May it was down to 3.22. Opponents hit only .155 against him in his dominant month of May which included back to back eight-inning starts. His ERA now sits at 3.87 after his first two starts of June.

His fastball has been his best pitch in 2019. Opponents are hitting just .215 against it. He added almost 100 revolutions per minute to its spin rate from 2139 in 2019 to 2229 this season. This has resulted in more hitters swinging under it which can be seen in its strikeout percentage jumping from 24.7 to 40.9 percent.

He has also seen a general uptick in strikeouts from 10 per nine innings last season to 10.9 and his 90 total strikeouts ties for sixth in the National League. He is also walking less hitters so his strikeout to walk ratio has also jumped from 3.36 to 4.50.

Unless Woodruff has a few other-worldly starts in his upcoming turns in the rotation, he will miss the All-Star game this year. His slow start will almost definitely keep him from getting his first All-Star nod. Plus, with the All-Star game being in the Cleveland Indians’ stadium who are an American League team, there is essentially no chance of Woodruff getting to show his skills with the bat, so maybe it should wait until there’s a National League park hosting where he can show his all-around game more.

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