Some nine days ago, there wasn’t much clarity surrounding Brandon Woodruff’s right shoulder. According to the July 8 update, imaging revealed a new injury to his anterior shoulder capsule. At the time, the Brewers were awaiting the opinion of Keith Meister, the surgeon who performed Woodruff’s shoulder capsule surgery in October 2023. In fact, he has continued to provide his guidance since. Now, with the calendar at July 17 and the second half of the season underway, that suspense remains.
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“The outlook isn’t good,” Murphy said, as per Todd Rosiak on X. “I’m going to let Woody get specific with you and let him be the one to announce what he wants to announce.”
On July 5, the 33-year-old was placed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation he picked up during his last start on July 4. He had pitched only 3⅔ innings. While there is no clarity on how serious his condition is, he was placed on the 60-day IL about a week ago, and if that is any indication, the situation appears to be dire.
The starting pitcher was selected by the Brewers in the 2014 MLB Draft in the 11th round. He then made his big league debut in 2017 with the club, and for the 9 seasons that he has spent with the Milwaukee team, he has had a variety of injuries.
| DATE | INJURY |
| 7/4/26 | Shoulder |
| 4/30/26 | Arm |
| 9/21/25 | Lat |
| 9/18/25 | Lat |
| 3/27/25 | Shoulder |
| 3/24/25 | Shoulder |
| 2/21/24 | Elbow |
| 4/8/23 | Shoulder |
| 5/27/22 | Ankle |
| 9/11/21 | Illness |
| 7/21/19 | Oblique |
As the second half of the season for MLB is officially underway, Woodruff has just appeared in 9 games so far, posting a 2-2 record with a 2.98 ERA, 47 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 0.84 in 45 ⅓ innings. Back on April 30, he left the game after 1⅓ innings with a “dead arm” sensation. He then spent the next seven weeks building up to his return, which eventually happened against the Cincinnati Reds after he had a cyst drained from his shoulder.
On July 17, before the Milwaukee Brewers game against the Miami Marlins at American Family Field, Pat Murphy stressed how difficult it is for the club with their left-hand hitter absent.
Pat Murphy says the plan is for Brandon Woodruff to address the media Sunday regarding his shoulder injury. “The outlook isn’t good,” Murphy said. “I’m going to let Woody get specific with you and let him be the one to announce what he wants to announce.”
“It’s extremely painful to even think about knowing what he meant to the organization and what he meant to this team,” Murphy remarked.
While he is away from the field focusing on his recovery, he and his wife, Jonie, welcomed their third child, Walker, on July 15.
Coming back to the Brewers, they are currently 60-37 and sit at the top of the NL Central. They have maintained such a turnaround despite having 11 players on the injury list, including Woodruff.
| PLAYER | INJURY | EXPECTED RETURN |
| Sal Frelick | Right shoulder soreness | Day to day |
| Kyle Harrison | Left forearm tightness | Late July |
| DL Hall | Left pectoral strain | Late July |
| Rob Zastryzny | Left upper trap strain | Late July |
| David Hamilton | Left hamstring strain | Late July |
| Joel Khunel | Right rotator cuff tendinopathy | Late July or early August |
| Brandon Lockridge | Right knee laceration | Right knee laceration |
| Brian Fitzpatrick | Left UCL strain | Mid- to late 2027 |
| Quinn Priester | Right neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome | 2027 |
| Angel Zerpa | Left forearm tightness | Early to mid-2027 |
While that’s that, they took on the Marlins during the first game of the second half and bagged a victory.
Miami Marlins vs. Milwaukee Brewers
In what was the Brewers’ 11th extra-inning game of the season, they came out on top with a 2-1 victory.
Joey Ortiz had tied the game at 1-1 with a fifth-inning homer, and that remained unchanged for the next five innings before, well, Mitchell unleashed his magic. Six Milwaukee pitchers held firm, with Craig Yoho eventually securing the first win of his major league career on Friday.
At the top of the ninth and the tenth innings, Garrett Mitchell brought in a few running catches in center field. To top that, he drove in a walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning to defeat the Miami Marlins.
This victory is bound to serve as a confidence booster for the team, which lost three straight games to the Pittsburgh Pirates at the end of the first half. That’s something the 27-year-old pointed out as well.
“I think we were all very frustrated with how the first half ended, not really doing what we do,” Mitchell said. “After playing 18 games in 17 days, I think we were all ready for a couple days off just to collect ourselves physically and mentally. But we came back out here today and kept it close and played a better version of ourselves today, and I think that’s a great way to start the second half.”
The Brewers will face the Marlins again on July 18. Do you think they will win again?