Brandon Woodruff has not pitched in a game since July 4. The 33-year-old spent most of the summer staring down a second shoulder surgery, and he has thrown exactly one high-intent bullpen since the arm went. He should still be on Milwaukee’s World Series roster.
“It is gonna be hard to keep me off that roster,” Woodruff told Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel after the Brewers finished off the Dodgers in the NLCS. He is right, and Pat Murphy should not spend much energy trying.
The Numbers Are Not a Sentimental Argument
When Woodruff was healthy this season he was excellent. In nine outings he threw 45 and a third innings with a 2.98 ERA, a 0.84 WHIP and 47 strikeouts. That is not a guy the Brewers are carrying out of respect for service time.
The career file backs it up. Woodruff owns a 3.10 ERA across 790 and a third innings, two All-Star selections and 19.0 wins above replacement by Baseball Reference math, all of it in a Milwaukee uniform since the club took him in the 11th round in 2014 out of Mississippi State. He is the longest-tenured player on the roster and the only one who has been here through every near-miss.
The injury history is real. His shoulder gave out again on July 4 in Arizona, when his velocity dropped into the low 80s and he came out in the second inning. A second operation on the right anterior capsule looked like the next step, and that procedure threatens careers. Then follow-up imaging came back better than anyone expected, surgery came off the table, and he started throwing again with one target in mind.
The Roster Math Favors Him
Here is the part that makes this easy. Murphy has carried 13 pitchers through eight postseason games and has not used two of them. Those are roster spots paying no rent.
Dustin May has struggled in October. Chad Patrick, another right-hander, has not appeared in the playoffs at all. Swapping one unused right-hander for a two-time All-Star who was posting a sub-3.00 ERA three months ago is the cheapest upgrade available to a team with no trade deadline left to work with.
The Brewers also have the calendar on their side. They swept Los Angeles on October 15 and will not play Game 1 until October 23 at American Family Field. That is a full week, and Woodruff plans to use it to face live hitters, which is the last real test standing between him and a uniform.
Take the Swing
If he looks terrible against teammates this week, fine, leave him off and nobody will argue. But the downside of carrying him is one bullpen spot that has gone unused for two rounds anyway. The upside is a postseason-tested starter who can give you two clean innings in a Game 4 that gets away early.
Milwaukee has not been to a World Series since 1982 and has never won one. This franchise does not get to be careful with a chance like this. Woodruff spent a summer being told his arm might be finished and threw his way back into the conversation anyway. Let him finish it.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
