As the Milwaukee Brewers bolster their staff for a postseason push, former All-Star Lance McCullers Jr. prepares for a surprising relief role while Brandon Woodruff’s future remains uncertain.
The Milwaukee Brewers' starting rotation has gone through it this season, and that's exactly why they felt the need to acquire Lance McCullers Jr.
The 32-year-old is a two-time World Series Champion, though he's only made eight starts this year due to injury.
He'll be pitching for an organization other than the Houston Astros for the first time in his career, and it's worth noting that the Brewers also acquired Colton Gordon in a trade for Jadyn Fielder, Prince Fielder's son.
Elsewhere, new updates on Brandon Woodruff and Kyle Harrison have all been provided.
Brewers will use McCullers out of the bullpen
In a bit of a surprising development, the Brewers have decided to push forward with the starting rotation they have. Logan Henderson is coming off a five-inning start, one that, once again, saw cause for concern about a potential injury. Everything seems to be good to go, but injuries have haunted the career of Henderson in a big way.
With the likes of Shane Drohan and Robert Gasser pitching the rest of this weekend, it's important for Brewers fans to know that they should expect McCullers to debut out of the bullpen, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.
McCullers has appeared in 154 games during his career, which began with the Astros back in 2015. Of those 154 appearances, he's started 148 games.
The Florida native made three bullpen appearances in 2018, and then didn't re-appear in the bullpen until last season where he made another three appearances.
Gordon will join starting rotation in Triple-A
Unlike McCullers, the Brewers are indeed keeping Gordon in the starting rotation. That said, it's notable that he's going to be in Nashville instead of Milwaukee. Gordon, 27, has started 15 of the 24 games he's appeared in for the Astros.
He sports a horrendous 11.57 ERA in four appearances this season, but he's coming off a -0.4 WAR rookie season where he went 6-4 with a 5.34 ERA and 1.42 WHIP. For reference, his WHIP sits at 2.57 here in 2026.
Woodruff's big announcement
"The outlook isn't good," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said in regard to Woodruff's expected announcement. Fans have begun to speculate, but with the way Murphy talked about the veteran, there's only one logical outcome for what Woodruff will tell Brewers fans by the end of the weekend.
Harrison's recovery timeline
According to McCalvy, Harrison is eligible to return from the Injured List on July 24. He was placed on the 15-day IL due to an elbow injury, but he's aiming to throw a bullpen on Saturday which would be a huge step in the right direction.
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