Brewers' Woodruff to IL, putting playoffs in doubt

ST. LOUIS -- The Milwaukee Brewers placed pitcher Brandon Woodruff connected the 15-day injured database Sunday with a close lat strain, putting his availability for the playoffs successful jeopardy.

Woodruff, who returned this play aft October 2023 enarthrosis surgery, felt thing amiss successful his triceps during a bullpen league Saturday, and an archetypal valuation traced the contented to the lat successful his precocious back.

"This is simply a broadside effect of getting backmost into doing this astatine a precocious level, and that's it. Is this career-ending? No, it's thing similar that," Woodruff said portion sitting successful the Brewers' dugout. "It's thing adjacent compared to the surgery, but it's conscionable 1 of those things that it'll heal, it'll get better. It's conscionable [bad] timing."

The quality comes 4 days aft left-hander José Quintana went connected the 15-day injured database with a near calf strain.

Those 2 moves permission the Brewers, who person the champion grounds successful baseball, with plentifulness of uncertainty successful however they could put their playoff rotation beyond Freddy Peralta and Quinn Priester.

Since coming disconnected the injured database successful mid-August, rookie sensation Jacob Misiorowski had allowed 21 runs successful 30⅓ innings, and manager Pat Murphy spoke Friday astir the anticipation of giving him a alleviation relation successful the postseason.

"Everybody that's pitched good is simply a factor, you cognize what I mean?" Murphy said Sunday. "How we enactment it up and however we extremity up going with it won't beryllium too, excessively overmuch of a astonishment to anybody."

The Brewers recalled left-hander Robert Gasser to commencement the bid finale Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals. The determination with Woodruff was retroactive to Thursday.

Murphy said person Trevor Megill, who has been retired since precocious August with a close flexor strain, could instrumentality for the play finale if his bullpen sessions Tuesday and Friday spell well. Quintana has been capable to proceed his throwing programme portion moving connected moving to get his calf steadfast again.

Woodruff, 32, missed each of past play pursuing country to repair an anterior capsule teardrop and has gone 7-2 successful 12 starts since returning successful July.

Despite his existent injury, helium said helium has exceeded his expectations successful presumption of limits connected his innings pitched this twelvemonth betwixt his enactment successful outpouring grooming and the season.

"The biggest extremity of excavation was to decorativeness the twelvemonth healthy," Woodruff said. "Hopefully we triumph the World Series, and present it's a period away.

"But I knew, I knew heavy down, the longer I kept going, that's benignant of the broadside effect [of the enarthrosis surgery]. ... The longer you support going, things similar this tin happen."

Woodruff held disconnected connected mounting immoderate expectations for his short-term status, noting helium had not yet been capable to sojourn with Dr. Keith Meister, who performed the surgery.

"The biggest happening is conscionable benignant of being present wherever my feet are and past instrumentality it a measurement astatine a time," Woodruff said, "but I can't remark connected whether it's going to extremity the play oregon not."

Woodruff was expected to sojourn with a specializer successful St. Louis connected Sunday earlier consulting with Meister.

"All denotation is it's not the shoulder, and that's a bully thing, but this is the benignant of happening that happens erstwhile you're coming backmost from wounded -- you injure thing else," Murphy said. "So it's devastating for the person, for Woody and however hard he's worked to get here, and devastating for our team."