'Never say no to Big Woo': Could Brandon Woodruff pitch in a World Series?

LOS ANGELES – As Brandon Woodruff brought his glove set in front of his face and gripped the ball with his right hand in the bullpen beyond the right-field fence at Dodger Stadium, there was far more intent in his eyes than the standard off-day bullpen that he’s thrown hundreds of times in his career. 

For 31 pitches as the Milwaukee Brewers worked out on an off-day Oct. 13, Woodruff stared down the mitt, oftentimes muttering bits of self-talk into the glove. 

“For me, I’m not really holding back,” said the right-hander. “I’m going as hard as my body will let me right now. It’s just where we’re at with everything.”

That Woodruff and the Brewers are even here – weighing the 33-year-old as an option for a potential World Series roster – to begin with feels somewhat like a far-fetched reality. 

Less than two months ago, the public expectation was Woodruff would be undergoing a second shoulder surgery, a procedure that put him ever pitching in the major leagues again in question. Woodruff revealed in late August he, it turned out out, didn’t need surgery. And not only that, he and the Brewers weren’t ruling out a return in the postseason. 

With Milwaukee ahead two games to none as the National League Championship Series shifts to Los Angeles for three games, Woodruff threw his first high-intent bullpen since resuming a throwing program in early September (he threw a light touch-and-feel off the mound two days prior). 

“What I set out to do was to be able to have a shot to do it,” Woodruff said. “It’s one of those things that it’s hard to process that can happen.

"If it does happen, the competitive juices take over and I’m not worried about this [being] my first time pitching in a major-league game in three months. I’m not looking at that. I’m looking at today. 

“We’ll just see what happens, but if I have the opportunity I’ll be ready to go.”

The next step for Woodruff is to face live hitters, which could happen as soon as this weekend if he recovers well from his bullpen. That phase will be critical for the Brewers as they weigh the decision of placing him on a possible World Series roster – and all the implications that come with that.

“We’ll have to see live BPs and stuff like that,” said pitching coach Jim Henderson. “Just make sure he’s progressing. The biggest thing is his health and his future. And if it happens to line up with him pitching this season, then great.

"I think we have to be aware of where the team’s at, be aware of where he’s at. If it works, it works. We’re not going to force it or put pressure on it. But if it does, he’s also performed really really well when he’s on the mound. 

“So it’s never a question of whether we want him out there. We do. It’s a matter of lining it up.” 

What, realistically, would the Brewers need to see from Woodruff to go from not pitching since July 4 to using a World Series roster spot on him? 

“It’s probably going to be based on his health and strength and velo,” Henderson said. “That’s going to be a big determining factor.”

Woodruff’s velocity in the bullpen session wasn’t zipping in the mid-90s, but the Brewers also don’t necessarily need it to be where it was when Woodruff was healthy this year.

Their brass has seen him throw in the upper-80s in side sessions and rehab assignments only to ramp it up in-game each of the last two years. Whether he has the ability to do that this time and coming off of this injury is something Henderson, pitching coach Chris Hook, manager Pat Murphy and the front office will have to decide, but having seen it happen before seems to bring about confidence given the adrenaline that would come with a Fall Classic stage. 

And speaking of confidence, the Brewers have plenty of that in Woodruff’s execution – so much so that a World Series comeback is entirely possible largely because of that trust. 

“I think his execution’s going to be there,” Henderson said. “He’s always been a high executor, even when he was going through the stuff earlier this year. I don’t think execution’s going to be a problem.” 

Still, Woodruff’s stuff would almost certainly need to reach a certain threshold for this to actually take place. So, where is Woodruff’s stuff at right now? 

“If you ask me, it’s pretty good,” he said. 

The plot, as Murphy likes to say, thickens. Considering the Brewers haven’t used three pitchers in their bullpen at all through six postseason games – a point to which Murphy said before the workout that “this isn’t tryouts – it’s not as if there’s no way to make room for him on the roster. 

“It’s a nice little piece to this,” Henderson said. “You’ll never say no to ‘Big Woo’ out there.”