The road back to normalcy on the baseball field has been anything but easy for Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff.  

Woodruff went down with a right shoulder injury in September 2023 that forced him to miss the Brewers’ postseason, and that was just the beginning of a lengthy road. The surgery would also cause Woodruff to miss all of the 2024 campaign. 

When he finally returned to the mound for the Brewers last July, Woodruff displayed the type of effectiveness that makes him an ace-caliber starter when healthy. In 12 starts, he went 7-2 with a 3.20 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP. However, his season was cut short once again. 

In September, Woodruff suffered a lat strain — keeping him from participating in the Brewers’ playoff run for the third year in a row. Now, with plenty of obstacles behind him, Woodruff is expecting optimism ahead of his age 33 season. 

“I'm in a good spot,” Woodruff told reporters after completing a live bullpen session that consisted of about 25 pitches. “It's crazy, I try to compare how it was at this point last year compared to now. It's two totally different things, which is exciting for me. 

“And as you get older, you learn your body better and realize what things are important to get ready for a season and what's not. And that's kind of where I'm at. I'm trying to get ready for a full healthy season.” 

In his limited run in the bullpen, Woodruff tapped into most of his arsenal, which consists of six pitches (per Baseball Savant): A sinker and a four-seam fastball, which he utilizes 31% of the time, a changeup (18% usage rate), a cutter (16% usage rate), a curve (4% usage rate) and a sweeper (1% usage rate). 

“Threw a little bit of everything today,” Woodruff said. “I think I didn't throw the sweeper. Typically, if something gets hit, I don't throw it. So, I throw what the hitter's telling me to throw. So, no, it was good. I was able to mix in everything.” 

Woodruff also had the challenge of primarily facing southpaw hitters, which challenged his utilization. 

“Gosh, I think I faced all lefty today, now that I just think about it. So, it was a good challenge to be able to use [the] cutter in — just try to pair some stuff up and change ups and some curve balls. So, it was all good.” 

Now that Woodruff has had one live BP session, the next steps are being mapped out. Reporters spoke with Brewers manager Pat Murphy, who indicated after Woodruff’s first BP session that he will enter a couple more before getting back to game action. 

But for Woodruff, there is no need to look too far ahead. 

“Honestly, I've gotten to today,” Woodruff said. “And what I've learned in the past — I get through today; I'll worry about tomorrow. I'll show up; look at the schedule. But yes, we have a good plan going forward. 

“I'll probably have one more of these and then touch a game. And then it's just, I imagine the next one will be a sim game to some capacity and then get into the real game. So, my goals, their goals, I think are pretty much the same, and that's to get through this year healthy. 

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