Milwaukee Brewers Ace Brandon Woodruff Undergoes Surgery, Could Miss 2024 Season
Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff underwent surgery to repair the anterior capsule in his right shoulder, the team announced Friday. The veteran right-hander is expected to miss most, if not all, of the 2024 season.
Woodruff was diagnosed with a a sub-scapular strain in his right shoulder in April, causing him to spend four months on the injured list. The 30-year-old only made 11 starts in 2023, although he impressed in his limited action with a 5-1 record, 2.28 ERA, 0.821 WHIP and 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings.
The Brewers left Woodruff off their playoff roster, with his last appearance coming on Sept. 23. Without Woodruff, Milwaukee got swept out of the NL Wild Card Series by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
General manager Matt Arnold remained optimistic as recently as Tuesday, though, saying he hoped Woodruff would be ready for the start of next season.
That won't be the case, however, as a second opinion and ensuing surgery will leave Woodruff sidelined for most of the next year.
Woodruff made All-Star Games in 2019 and 2021, and he has not finished a season with an ERA over 3.63 since his rookie year in 2017. He placed fifth in NL Cy Young voting two years ago, sporting a sub-3.00 ERA, a sub-1.00 WHIP and over 200 strikeouts.
For his career, Woodruff is 46-26 with a 3.10 ERA, 1.045 WHIP, 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings and a 17.2 WAR.
The Brewers had plenty of depth in their rotation in 2023, but things aren't quite as simple moving forward. Julio Teheran elected to become a free agent last week, while veteran Wade Miley has a $10 million mutual option with a $1 million buyout.
Woodruff, Adrian Houser and Corbin Burnes are all entering their final year of arbitration this winter. Freddy Peralta can also become a free agent in 2025 if Milwaukee doesn't pick up his $8 million team option.
The Brewers already lost president of baseball operations David Stearns to the New York Mets in September, and manager Craig Counsell's contract has expired.
After making the postseason in five of the last six years, there are a lot of moving parts in Milwaukee, from the front office to the clubhouse to the starting rotation. Woodruff's absence could make matters worse, as the Brewers will now be without one of the most decorated pitchers in franchise history for a significant portion of 2024.
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