Brewers finally offer long-awaited update on Brandon Woodruff's 2025 playoff status

The hearts of Milwaukee Brewers fans sank when their beloved starting pitcher, Brandon Woodruff, went down with an injury in mid-September. For a fanbase who has seen countless crushing, late-season injuries that have deflated their postseason dreams, it appeared that they were once again suffering the same fate.

Then came the waiting period. Despite Woodruff meeting with team doctors and the surgeon who performed his shoulder reconstruction in 2023, hardly any news surfaced about his status for the 2025 postseason. Manager Pat Murphy teased fans by saying there would be an update on the veteran right-hander earlier in the week, but news never came, and fans were left speculating on Woody's postseason status. Some ran with the fact that he was seeing his surgeon again and concluded that Woodruff's season and potentially even his career was over, but that line of thinking was never backed by any concrete evidence.

Finally, on Friday afternoon, Murphy provided an injury update on his veteran starter, and while it wasn't the best-case scenario, it was about as good of news as Brewers fans could have hoped for given the concerning silence that has dominated the topic in recent days.

Brandon Woodruff ruled out for NLDS, but could return for later postseason rounds

As reported by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, among many other team insiders, Woodruff will not pitch in the NLDS, and likely won't pitch in the NLCS either. His return, should it even come before the end of the postseason, would be reserved for the World Series if Milwaukee can make it there without him.

It's certainly not good news. Brewers fans were holding out hope for a miraculous recovery that would allow Woody to be a part of the highly anticipated Brewers vs. Cubs NLDS matchup. However, the fact that a possible return for the final round of the playoffs is a possibility and that Woody's surgically repaired shoulder remains in tact is good news for both Woodruff himself and the Brew Crew.

Without Woody in the rotation, the pressure is on both Quinn Priester and José Quintana to step up and provide strong outings at the beginning of games. As reported by MLB.com's Adam McCalvy, Murphy is not yet ready to name which of Priester or Quintana will start Game 2 on Monday night.

The good news baked into the uncertainty of who will start Game 2 is that Quintana is healthy enough to be included on the NLDS roster. The veteran southpaw who has more playoff experience than anyone on the Brewers' pitching staff suffered a minor calf strain at the end of the season, and his postseason status was in question. Now, that question has been answered as Murphy reveals that he could pitch as early as Game 2.

It's certainly not an ideal scenario for the Brew Crew, who lose their presumed Game 2 starter, but the fact that Woody could return before the end of the postseason means the wind that was taken out of the team's sails in recent years is not quite as strong this season. With Freddy Peralta, Preister, Quintana, and their talented (and now rested) bullpen, the Brewers have more than enough arms to advance through the National League playoffs, especially given the added motivation of knowing that Woody awaits them should they win their first-ever National League pennant.