Brandon Woodruff offers silver lining in otherwise disheartening shoulder injury update

On Friday night, Milwaukee Brewers manager noted that veteran right-hander Brandon Woodruff would offer an update on the status of his latest shoulder injury before the end of the weekend. Murphy's tone and the language he used made clear that the situation was dire, but the Brewers' skipper was careful not to report the exact nature of Woody's injury and the impact it would have on the right-hander's future career.

Murphy's report led to justified speculation that Woodruff may elect to retire due to his latest shoulder injury. However, when the 33-year-old Brewers legend sat down for his own press conference on Saturday morning, Woodruff made clear that this was not a retirement announcement.

Instead, Woodruff announced that he needs season-ending surgery -- one that is similar to the shoulder reconstruction he underwent back in 2023 -- with the goal of pitching again on the other side of a lengthy rehab process.

It's undoubtedly a disheartening development for the 2026 Brewers and their fans alike, who will now have to endure the second half of the season without their veteran rotation leader on the bump. However, Brewers fans had mostly come to terms with the fact that Woodruff was going to miss at least the remainder of the 2026 season when the team placed him on the 60-day IL before they needed to. In that regard, with retirement seemingly on the table, Woodruff's update today includes a silver lining that many weren't expecting: Big Woo is not yet done.

Brandon Woodruff to undergo season-ending surgery, but hopes to pitch again in the future

It will by no means be easy for the 33-year-old right-hander, who was away from a big-league mound for 20 months following his last surgery, but as Murphy said during his pregame press conference this afternoon, "If anybody can [do it], it will be him."

Assuming the recovery process proceeds as it did last time around, Woodruff will return to big-league action at the beginning of the 2028 campaign, but there's no guarantee that return comes in a Brewers uniform. Woodruff is a franchise icon, and there's hope the two sides can work out a contract that works for both of them, but the business of baseball may interfere.

One thing that Brewers fans and Woodruff should both be encouraged by in regard to his future is the fact that the former power pitcher proved he can still be effective in the major leagues with a revamped arsenal that includes a far less "angry" fastball. "I stopped looking at the radar gun a long time ago," said Woodruff, who has confidence that the skills he's developed out of necessity over the last two years to combat his lack of velocity will allow him to be successful when he returns from this next surgery.

It's a good news, bad news situation for Woodruff. Obviously, Brewers fans didn't want to lose him for the rest of the 2026 campaign, but at least there's a chance they will be able to watch him pitch once again in the future. Woodruff, who is hoping to get the surgery done within the next month, will still be around the team as much as he can, helping Milwaukee's young staff navigate what will be several pitchers' first postseason push.

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