It’s been a difficult start to the season in Milwaukee, as the Brewers have posted a lackluster 16-18 record and currently sit five games back of the Cubs in the NL Central. The losses of Willy Adames and Devin Williams this offseason certainly haven’t helped matters, but perhaps the most glaring issue with the club this year has been the starting rotation. Only Marlins and Orioles starters have posted a worse figure than Milwaukee’s 4.94 rotation FIP, and while they’ve outperformed their peripherals so far a 4.02 ERA is still below average and a far cry from the days of Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff helping carry the team to the postseason.
Burnes is long gone, already on his second team since departing Milwaukee prior to the 2024 season, but Woodruff remains in the organization after missing 2024 rehabbing surgery to repair a capsule tear in his shoulder. He’s yet to make his 2025 debut while finishing up his rehab process, but the right-hander’s return to the majors appears to be imminent. As noted by MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, Woodruff is expected to make two more rehab starts before he makes his return to the majors: one this coming Tuesday, and one on May 11. At that point, Woodruff will run out of time on his 30-day rehab assignment and need to be reinstated to the big league roster unless he suffers a setback that necessitates the team pulling him back from his rehab assignment.
Woodruff’s return can’t come soon enough, given how talented the right-hander is. One of the best pitchers in the majors since his breakout 2019 season, the right-hander has looked good in four rehab starts this year, with a 2.45 ERA in 18 1/3 innings. His strikeout rate of 21.6% is well below his usual mark, though it’s worth noting that figure has jumped to a much more robust 29.4% since he was promoted to Triple-A, suggesting his stuff is improving as he shakes off the rust from more than a year away from the mound. If Woodruff can offer Milwaukee ace-level production in his age-32 season, it would be a game changer for their chances in the NL Central and give the club an elite 1-2 punch alongside Freddy Peralta.
While no other pitcher in the organization can be expected to offer the sort of elite production Woodruff has posted when at his best, he’s far from the only potential rotation arm on the mend. Southpaw DL Hall began a rehab assignment yesterday and, as noted by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, is being built up as a…
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