Woodruff back on the mound for Brewers for the first time in 18 months

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- The Brewers were facing a starting pitching shortage on Sunday while awaiting word on the severity of right-hander Tobias Myers’ left oblique injury, and perhaps watching Brandon Woodruff's velocity tick up another notch in his first Major League game in 18 months, wondering whether his shoulder rehab could be hurried along.

There’s no chance of that, not after Woodruff worked so hard for so long just to get to this point. The 32-year-old threw the first inning of the Brewers’ 8-2 win over the Guardians in front of an appreciative crowd at American Family Fields of Phoenix that included the Brewers’ entire pitching staff. Woodruff walked a batter, struck out Cleveland first baseman Kyle Manzardo with an improved changeup and finished his 16-pitch outing with a 95 mph fastball to retire Jhonkensy Noel.

Woodruff was so nervous at the start of the game that when the umpires’ crew chief, Cory Blaser, went to perform the perfunctory check for sticky stuff, Woodruff shook his hand. He momentarily thought Blaser was congratulating him for reaching this latest milestone.

“I know it was just a Spring Training game,” Woodruff said, “but for me, it was 18 months and it was a big deal.”

But there’s no way he’s going to blow it by rushing back to a Brewers rotation in need.

“I can tell you right now, as much as I want it to, that has no effect on what I’m trying to accomplish,” Woodruff said. “Is it worth getting in a [Spring Training] game a month ago when games started? I would probably be in a worse position now.

“I’ve taken the time. I’ve taken the right steps to get to this point. I’ve still got a lot more hurdles to go. Now I have to build volume and innings. Today was step one.”

A timeline for Woodruff’s return to the Brewers rotation remains open-ended, even now that he’s entering into a regular schedule of pitching in games. At some point, he will begin a 30-day Minor League rehabilitation assignment, and that will be a better gauge of when he might make it to Milwaukee.

For Sunday, the Brewers’ rotation situation took a backseat.

“He’s way ahead of where I thought he’d be. Way ahead,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.

Another Brewers starter also took a step forward Sunday, when veteran left-hander Jose Quintana made his unofficial Brewers debut with two innings against the Guardians. Originally, his outing was planned to take place in a Minor League game, but Quintana, who signed with the Brewers earlier this month, said he felt it was time to move into Major League games in order to complete a compressed build-up to the regular season. He expects to make two more spring starts, hopefully putting him at the point where he could cover five innings of a regular season game.

Every inning appears valuable at the moment after Myers exited his start against the A’s on Saturday with a left oblique injury that required an MRI scan on Sunday. That’s on top of spring injuries to rotation candidates Aaron Ashby (right oblique) and DL Hall (left lat) and the rehabbing Woodruff and Robert Gasser.

All are expected to open the season on the injured list. Timelines for Myers and Ashby are to be determined. Hall isn’t eligible to come off the 60-day IL until the last week of May. Gasser won’t be Major League-ready until August or September.

“Health has become an issue with the seven pitchers down,” Murphy said Sunday morning, including Minor League starter Thomas Pannone and reliever J.B. Bukauskas in his count.

Should Myers miss an extended period of time, Logan Henderson (MLB Pipeline’s No. 13 Brewers prospect) or Chad Patrick are the leading internal candidates. Tyler Alexander, Elvin Rodriguez and Rule 5 Draft pick Connor Thomas could make spot starts, but they would not be likely candidates for an extended stint in the rotation.

“But you never know how that works out,” Murphy said. “We thought Tobias was a spot start, and now he’s a mainstay. This is the organization of opportunity. You get an opportunity, and you take it and run.”

Woodruff will get his opportunity eventually. But a bit more patience is required.

“Coming off, seeing Freddy [Peralta], seeing all my teammates, it’s a big deal, man,” he said. “You go through everything in the clubhouse with these guys, the ups and the downs, and truthfully, no matter how it goes, you just want to be in the fight with them. That’s what I miss the most.”