MILWAUKEE (AP) — On the same day the Milwaukee Brewers gave fans Brandon Woodruff bobbleheads, the starting pitcher announced he would be undergoing another anterior capsule surgery on his right shoulder, likely ending his season.
Woodruff told reporters before Saturday afternoon’s game against the Miami Marlins it is the same surgery he had after the 2023 season. While he wouldn’t put a timeline on his rehab, his last recovery was about 20 months
between surgery and when he returned to the mound.
“I’m never closing the door on pitching,” Woodruff said. “I’m getting this (surgery) with the intention of rehabbing and taking care of that and being able to pitch again.”
One day after Woodruff was pulled from a July 4 start against the Arizona Diamondbacks amid a drop in velocity, the Brewers diagnosed him with a new injury to his anterior capsule and placed him on the 15-day injured list. He was shifted to the 60-day injured list July 12.
“I knew, when we went to the mound (to pull Woodruff), it was bad,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “It’s tough to come back from what he’s going to have to come back from.”
Since going on the IL, Woodruff has worked with Dr. Keith Meister, who surgically repaired his shoulder after the 2023 season. Meister removed Woodruff’s cyst this season in early May, a minor surgery that kept the right-hander sidelined for nearly two months.
Shoulder injuries are nothing new for Woodruff, who didn’t pitch at all in 2024 after the surgery in October 2023. He returned midway through last season and went 7-2 with a 3.20 ERA in 12 starts, though a lat strain kept him from pitching in the playoffs.
“Thankfully, I got that perspective, which I think will benefit me for sure,” Woodruff said about the rehab process. “It’s not going to be easy. I know it’s going to be tough. I know what’s ahead of me.”
In nine starts in 2026, Woodruff went 2-2 with a 2.98 ERA, 0.84 WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) and 47 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings.
His absence is the latest pitching injury to the Brewers, whose 3.48 ERA ranked second in the majors entering Saturday, behind only the New York Yankees.
“It’s a gut punch,” Murphy said.
Left-hander Kyle Harrison, another first-half standout, was placed on the 15-day IL on July 11 with tightness in his throwing forearm. Harrison had an MRI over the break and is awaiting the results but has already begun a throwing program.
In need of replenishments, the Brewers acquired right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. and lefty Colton Gordon on Wednesday, trading outfield prospect Jadyn Fielder to the Houston Astros.
The Brewers reinstated the oft-injured McCullers from the 15-day injured list on Friday and placed him on the active roster, optioning struggling reliever Jared Koenig to Triple-A Nashville. McCullers will initially pitch out of the bullpen.
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