Brewers Holding Their Breath After Scary Brandon Woodruff Injury on Rehab

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Dave Gasper | Last updated Jun 3, 2025 9:40 PM ET

For the second time, just as Brewers starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff was making his final scheduled rehab start for Triple-A Nashville, he's suffered an injury that is likely to delay his return from the injured list.

The first time, Woodruff was dealing with an ankle injury that flared up in his rehab outing. He had to be pulled back and then sit for a week to let the ankle heal up and since then he's been on a second rehab assignment.

According to the Brewers, Tuesday's start in Nashville was the last one for him they had on the schedule before potentially activating him. However, a scary injury is going to delay that.

In the second inning of the Nashville Sounds game, Woodruff was struck in the right arm by a 108.2 MPH comebacker off the bat of Cade Bunnell.

Making what was likely his final rehab start before finally returning to the majors after 20+ months, Brandon Woodruff just exited his start in Nashville after being hit by a line drive in the right arm. pic.twitter.com/dx2hEfm3jw
— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) June 3, 2025

Woodruff was immediately removed from the game.

The Brewers have called the injury a "right elbow contusion" and Woodruff is expected to return to Milwaukee on Wednesday for X-Rays and additional testing.

Woodruff hasn't pitched in a big league game since September 2023 and he's been on the verge of returning a couple of times now. There's not much he could've done to get out of the way of that baseball and it's yet another unfortunate setback for the 32 year old right-hander.

The severity of the injury is not yet known. It could be relatively minor if no bones are broken and it just ends up being a bruise. Still, it's likely that Woodruff is going to be held back from pitching in games for a little bit to allow the injury to heal before putting him back out there, likely again on a new rehab assignment.

The Brewers starting rotation is in much better shape than it was a few weeks ago. That eases the pressure on trying to get Woodruff back as soon as possible and allows the Brewers to be more patient and cautious with his recovery.

The good news, if there is any to be found here, is that through these rehab assignments, the flare ups and issues have not been with Woodruff's surgically repaired shoulder.

As for what Woodruff's timeline for a return looks like now, the Brewers and fans are holding their breath for the results of tomorrow's tests.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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