Milwaukee Brewers will be without Brandon Woodruff in NL Wild Card Series
By Todd Welter
The Milwaukee Brewers will have to eliminate the Arizona Diamondbacks without their ace pitcher, Brandon Woodruff.
Manager Craig Counsell announced Woodruff has a right shoulder injury and will miss the Wild Card series.
Woodruff will get a second opinion, but it is possible Woody will not be available for the entire postseason.
Brandon Woodruff has a right shoulder capsular injury and will not pitch in the Wild Card series. His availability for the postseason is “in question,” Craig Counsell said. Woodruff will get a second opinion. pic.twitter.com/zha9l2womz
— Sophia Minnaert (@SophiaMinnaert) October 2, 2023
Woodruff missed a portion of the season with the same shoulder injury.
He returned in August and was dominant. Then the injury popped back up during his last start against Miami.
Brandon Woodruff looked as good as ever since returning from the IL before he took the mound in Miami on Sept. 23. He had a 2.13 ERA over eight starts, including a complete game shutout.
— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) October 2, 2023
Then, in Miami, his velocity was down. "That's when it popped up again," Counsell said.
Woodruff was likely set to start Game 2 against Arizona, but now the starter is listed as TBD.
Corbin Burnes will start Game 1, and with Woodruff out, the Milwaukee Brewers need him to have a dominant game.
The Crew has the starting pitching to survive Woodruff being out of the Wild Card series.
Wade Miley is an excellent postseason pitcher, and Freddy Peralta has been pitching well in the second half.
It just would have been ideal to have Woody pitch a postseason-saving or series-clinching Game 2.
Also, his absence in the starting rotation makes getting past the Los Angeles Dodgers that much harder. Missing Woodruff certainly does not help in pulling off an upset over the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS if both teams get there.
The Diamondbacks are also not the best Wild Card matchup for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Their lineup can grind out runs, and they have two starting pitchers, Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen, that can render Milwaukee’s bats useless.
The offense disappearing is what will make the Brewers’ appearance in the playoffs a short stay.
Hopefully, Burnes pitches like a former Cy Young winner in Game 1, and the Crew’s bats can jump on Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt. He had a 4.32 ERA in September.
Having a healthy Woodruff is what would have allowed Milwaukee to dream about a possible World Series. It does not mean it is impossible for that to still happen, but an already rough road to get there just got a whole lot rougher.
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