Milwaukee Brewers Get Great Update on 2 Key Starters Rehabbing from Prolonged Injury Stints

For Woodruff, it is a positive sign in his two-year quest to retake the mound. Injury has kept him off the field since midway through the 2023 season. Following the simulated start, there is hope a single rehab outing may be enough to put him back on on the big-league bump.

Cortes was the main piece of Milwaukee’s incoming package from the Yankees in the trade that sent out closer Devin Williams. Cortes made just two starts for the Brewers before sustaining an elbow injury. He is projected make his first rehab start within a couple of weeks, putting him right in line to come back soon after the All-Star break in mid-July.

No Room in the Rotation – Who Gets the Boot?

When they do return, Milwaukee will have something of a conundrum in the starting five. Rookie Chad Patrick has pitched well on the whole. Jacob Misiorowski is favored to win Rookie of the Year after just two electric starts. Jose Quintana has a 2.98 ERA. Quinn Priester got knocked around yesterday – for the first time in nearly two months. He has done nothing but overachieve. Freddy Peralta is a workhorse of an ace. Overcrowding seems inevitable by the time the other two come back.

Of course, that’s a good problem to have. Their variety of options also means the Brewers shouldn’t rush the veteran arms back. Ready, though, is ready; especially for Woodruff, the wait has been hard.

“If you don’t stay positive with it, it makes coming to the field miserable, to be honest. When the team’s on the road and I’m here, me and Nestor are here by ourselves, it’s a pretty lonely place,” Woodruff said. 

If all goes according to plan, he could rejoin the team as soon as next week, perhaps during Milwaukee’s weekend series in Miami.