Brewers’ Brandon Woodruff suffers injury setback amid rehab

The Milwaukee Brewers will have to wait longer for the return of starter Brandon Woodruff.

The right-hander has suffered a setback in his rehab after sustaining an ankle injury that limited him to 39 pitches on Sunday in Triple-A, and he won’t pitch for at least another week, as reported by Sophia Minnaert.

Woodruff hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2023. He dealt with shoulder pain in September of that year and ultimately had surgery in October, missing the Brewers’ playoff run and all of 2024 as well. He was expected to potentially be activated off the IL on Tuesday and pitch this weekend for the MLB club, but that was before the ankle issue arose.

The veteran only averaged 90.7 mph on his heater in Sunday’s outing, topping out at 93. Brewers skipper Pat Murphy reacted to Woodruff’s lower velocity:

“I didn’t hear anything, but I saw the line and I saw the number of pitches,” Murphy said. “I didn’t hear much, but when it’s in the pitcher’s mind that this is going to be a lower-volume day, that can affect you, too.”

As Murphy mentioned, it was planned to be a shorter start for Woodruff with the hope he’d be back in Milwaukee later this week. The shoulder appears to be fine, though, which is a promising sign. Now, it’s about managing the ankle tendonitis. Woodruff was solid in ’23 before going on the shelf, posting a 2.28 ERA in 11 starts.

The Brewers have been dealing with a lot of pitching injuries in 2025. Aaron Civale remains sidelined, but he’s nearing a return as well. Reliever Aaron Ashby could be back in the mix soon, too.

Milwaukee is off to a disappointing start this season, going just 20-21, which puts them in third place in the National League Central. Pitching isn’t a strength so far, ranking 21st in the Majors with a 4.14 team ERA. Woodruff’s return, when it does happen, should certainly help the Brew Crew.