Brewers execute a pair of bullpen moves prior to weekend matchup with Rockies

"A full catastrophe" was how Milwaukee Brewers' manager described the injured state of his team's pitching staff following their loss to the San Francisco Giants on Thursday afternoon. With Brandon Woodruff, Quinn Priester, Logan Henderson, Jared Koenig, and Rob Zastryzny all residing on the injured list, two Brewers' relievers, DL Hall and Grant Anderson, exited Thursday's matinee with apparent injuries.

Hall's injury was certainly the more concerning of the two as the cause wasn't immediately known. Whereas Anderson was hit by a comebacker on his forearm, making it rather obvious why the right-handed reliever had to exit the game, Hall's injury was of the "non-contact" variety, which generally is worse news for a pitcher.

After Thursday's game, it was confirmed that while Anderson simply had some swelling on his forearm, but thankfully no broken bones, Hall was facing a much more daunting situation. It was revealed Brewers' southpaw, who was off to an excellent start in 2026, with a 2.03 ERA in 31 innings to prove it, was dealing with discomfort in his left pectoral and subscapularis muscles. The mood from Murphy and Hall himself suggested that a trip to the IL was all but guaranteed.

Just moments ago, the Brewers confirmed that belief, placing Hall on the 15-day IL with a left pectoral strain. Thankfully, Anderson avoided a stint on the IL, which is excellent news for the Brewers, who begin a three-game set at the hitter-friendly Coors Field tonight before traveling to Las Vegas for a series against the Athletics that will be played at Las Vegas Ballpark -- another hitters' paradise.

While Anderson will remain with the team but likely not pitch for a couple of days, the Brewers did make a second change to their bullpen group ahead of Friday night's game in Colorado. The Brewers have officially designated right-hander Jake Woodford for assignment. Left-hander Brian Fitzpatrick and righty Craig Yoho will fill the two open spots in Milwaukee's bullpen.

Brewers recall Brian Fitzpatrick and Craig Yoho to replace DL Hall and Jake Woodford in their bullpen

The writing was on the wall for Woodford, who turned in another disappointing performance on Thursday afternoon. Serving as the Brewers' low-leverage multi-inning reliever -- a difficult, but necessary role -- Woodford posted a 6.94 ERA in 16 appearances through the first two months of the 2026 campaign. Though he did a good job of limiting walks, Woodford simply gave up too much hard contact to remain a viable option for Murphy in the Brewers' bullpen. He will head to waivers, where a team looking for an arm to fill innings could take a gamble on Woodford and try to unlock the success that he had back in 2021 and 2022.

Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick gets his second shot at the big leagues after a very successful first stint with the big-league club. In four appearances across late April and early May, Fitzpatrick covered 5.2 innings and allowed just one earned run. Though he didn't produce big strikeout numbers during that stint, Fitzpatrick kept hitters off-balance with his excellent changeup and his 1.13 ERA in Triple-A this season suggests that he's more than ready for a consistent role in a big-league bullpen.

Yoho, on the other hand, is getting his first MLB opportunity this year, after an inconsistent showing with the major league club in 2025. After a calf strain delayed the start of Yoho's 2026 season until the third week of April, the talented right-hander has once again shown a great deal of success at the Triple-A level. In 18 innings of work with the Nashville Sounds this year, Yoho has a 1.00 ERA and 24 strikeouts. What's even more encouraging is that Yoho's walk rate, which held him back in the big leagues last year, is at an all-time low.

With two new arms in the bullpen, the Brewers look to put an end to their two-game losing skid in their series opener with the last-place Rockies tonight. Brandon Sproat (1-4 , 6.24 ERA) starts for the Crew and Ryan Feltner (2-1, 4.85 ERA) gets the ball for the Rockies. Tonight's game kicks off at 7:40 p.m. CT.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow