MILWAUKEE – Brandon Woodruff made a fairly significant mechanical adjustment for his 42-pitch live batting practice session on Wednesday, lowering his arm slot in an effort to correct the slow creep of bad habits he says has accompanied his comeback from right shoulder surgery.
Woodruff made Milwaukee’s Opening Day roster but has been sidelined since experiencing a dramatic drop in velocity and a feeling of “dead arm” in an April 30 start against the D-backs. He had a minor procedure to address a cyst in his shoulder joint and was on his way back to start against the Cardinals at American Family Field on May 27, but pulled the plug on that plan because he didn’t feel right.
Now he has an idea of what was going on there, and he’s working to fix it.
“Ever since surgery, my release point has been getting higher, and I’ve been pinching my [shoulder] off,” Woodruff said. “I think it’s just a byproduct of having the surgery and finding a comfortable way to throw, and I got stuck in those patterns. I had an adjustment just two days ago, and [Wednesday] was the first time throwing with it.
“I’m trying to get my release where I was pre-surgery, in that low three-quarters slot. I can get real nerdy here, but if you break down the biomechanics, if you get in a more comfortable spot [lower], it gives more freedom for the shoulder to do its thing. That’s the idea.” |
He bounced back well on Thursday and liked the Trackman data he saw from Wednesday’s simulated outing against hitters Brandon Lockridge and Blake Perkins. Woodruff’s release point was up, along with his extension – two good signs that the mechanical fix was in place.
He’s scheduled to divert to Arizona next with a group of other players who won’t be traveling with the team to its next stop at Colorado. They include starters Kyle Harrison and Robert Gasser, since they are not scheduled to pitch in the Rockies series, along with rehabbing outfielder Lockridge and pitching coach Juan Sandoval, who will keep Woodruff, Harrison and Gasser on track while they avoid the effects of Denver’s altitude.
“Teams do that all the time. I know the Dodgers do that,” Woodruff said. “If they’ve got guys who are not pitching in Colorado, they stay back. It makes a difference.” |
Woodruff might even throw in Arizona Complex League games, which have Spring Training-type rules allowing pitchers to exit and re-enter to control pitch counts. The Brewers already sent right-hander Quinn Priester there to search for answers in his long comeback from thoracic outlet syndrome, and Priester was able to pitch into the fourth inning in his Arizona debut this week.
Woodruff is confident he’ll be back in the Brewers’ rotation to log multiple starts before the All-Star break.
“My big thing is, I don’t want to go five starts and have something come up again,” Woodruff said. “I’m trying to give myself a chance to finish out the year. I don’t want to go back on the IL. I’m sick of that [stuff].” |
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MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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Milwaukee television station TMJ4 told a Jacob Misiorowski story on Thursday that you might not believe if there weren’t the photos and video to prove it. Seven-year-old Aaron Shorey and his dad, Ryan, went to a Milwaukee-area card shop on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. As they walked up, dad asked Aaron a question on a whim about Milwaukee’s most famous collector. “I said to Aaron, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we saw The Miz there?” Ryan Shorey said. Misiorowski grew up in suburban Kansas City and developed a love for trading cards from his own dad, Tom, whom Brewers fans have gotten to know a bit since Jacob’s Major League debut a year ago. Fans have also gotten to know just how avid a collector he’s become, as part of a circle of Brewers players who visit card shops all over the country during their travels with the team. Last year, he made headlines when he ripped a rare Pokémon card in the clubhouse. And earlier this year in Spring Training, Misiorowski visited a card shop in downtown Phoenix for a Topps Rip Night event. So, it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility to see him out and about. But what are the odds? “We walked right up to the door and we looked inside, and there’s 6-foot-7 Jacob Misiorowski,” Ryan Shorey said. The story gets even more unbelievable from there. You can read how the encounter ended, and see the piece from TMJ4's Marley Marotta, on the site. Misiorowski is scheduled to make his next start on Saturday at Coors Field. More >> |
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BREWERS’ NEW BUSINESS VENTURE
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With the preeminent women’s professional softball league less than a week away from beginning its season, the Athletes Unlimited Softball League added to its ownership group on Thursday with investments from the Milwaukee Brewers -- the first Major League club to invest directly in the AUSL -- and Ryan Sanders Baseball, one of the premier operators in Minor League Baseball whose holdings include the Triple-A Round Rock Express. The agreements continue the bond between the AUSL and Major League Baseball, which first announced a partnership in 2025. “We have seen the sustained growth in the popularity of women’s sports, and with the best players in the world, professional softball has strong appeal across many demographics,” Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio said in a statement. “The AUSL has built a strong leadership team and they are in an ideal position to capitalize on the momentum of their inaugural season.” Does the Brewers’ involvement portend a franchise in Milwaukee someday? “Everyone will have to stay tuned,” said Jon Patricof, the founder and CEO of Athletes Unlimited. “We haven’t made any announcements about where we will go next. We have six teams … and one would think there would be future expansion, and one of the criteria is looking at markets where there are MLB teams and where they have been successful.” For more on the partnership, see our story on Brewers.com. More >>
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