While it's hard to believe, Brandon Woodruff is back, and he's arguably better than ever.

"Big Woo" looked extremely sharp in his return to the mound on Monday, June 22, in a start that saw him carry a perfect game into the sixth.

Woodruff ended up allowing a single to left center, but other than that his fastball was incredible and his velocity was on point.

In the end, Woodruff recorded his third career outing with one or no hits, no walks, and 10-plus strikeouts. He finished with exactly 10 in Cincinnati, a number that put him alongside former teammate Corbin Burnes in an exclusive club.

Brewers' Adam McCalvy confirmed, "Since 1900, there are only two pitchers with THREE career outings of one or no hits, no walks and 10+ strikeouts."

Coincidentally, Burnes and Woodruff are those two pitchers. Sure, it's a testament to this Brewers staff and what they're able to find, but also shows just how rare it is to have pitchers play at this level on a consistent basis.

Woodruff's average four-seam fastball velocity was under 90.0 mph in the first inning, but he threw a scorching 95 mph pitch in the sixth which proved to everyone he's back. Watch out league, Milwaukee has now added a third incredible starter to its rotation alongside Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison.

"It's pitching in its greatest form," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. He added, "Nobody’s shocked. That’s the truth. That’s Woo. He takes craft seriously, and I’m really proud of him and what he did for the club because of the leadership he shows doing that. It’s pretty special.”

Milwaukee pitching coach Chris Hook chimed in. "The guy knows how to pitch," Hook said. "He’s going to figure it out, no matter what the stuff is. If the stuff’s good, I think we’re going to be just fine.”

If that wasn't enough praise, Reds manager Terry Francona had nothing but great things to say about Woodruff after his return.

"His fastball definitely plays up and he slowed us down, and then he elevated and he got it past our barrels pretty consistently," Francona said. "Then he’d throw a changeup, breaking ball, located it really well. He’s a good pitcher."

After starting his seventh game here in 2026, the veteran dropped his ERA to 3.00. He wasn't able to pick up the win as Milwaukee's offense didn't do anything until the 10th inning, but it was a quality start and dropped his WHIP to 0.89.

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