Brewers injury news: Woodruff progresses, Priester update, Baddoo to Triple-A

Christian Yelich is back in the lineup for the Milwaukee Brewers, who open a three-game set with the San Diego Padres at American Family Field tonight. Yelich's return continues a string of good news on the position player injury front for the Brew Crew, who saw both Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn return to the lineup during last week's away series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

However, on the pitcher side of things, the news has been quite as good for the surging Brewers. The team lost Ángel Zerpa to season-ending Tommy John surgery, which the southpaw endured yesterday. Meanwhile, Brandon Woodruff currently resides on the injured list after a bout of "dead arm" in his last start, and 2025 breakout right-hander Quinn Priester suffered a setback during his rehab from a thoracic outlet syndrome-adjacent injury. Additionally, relievers Jared Koenig and Rob Zastryzny remain on the injured list, though both continue to progress, with the former throwing a bullpen this afternoon and the latter embarking on a rehab assignment.

Thankfully, while the Brewers have several arms on the injured list at the moment, positive developments were pouring in this afternoon. In addition to the news regarding Koenig and Zastryzny, several other Brewers are progressing through their rehab processes.

Brandon Woodruff set to throw first bullpen since "dead arm" incident on Thursday afternoon, late May return is possible

Woodruff's velocity dip in his most recent outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks back on April 30 caught everyone by surprise, and led to initial concerns that the veteran right-hander had suffered another injury. Thankfully, Woodruff was accurate in saying that he wasn't hurt after the game, but rather was just suffering from painless inflammation in his right shoulder.

The 33-year-old did undergo a minor procedure with Dr. Keith Meister, the surgeon who performed his shoulder reconstruction back in 2023, to remove some fluid from his shoulder, but the rehab process is not expected to be lengthy. In fact, Woody is already back to throwing and will toss his first official bullpen since the injury in two days, on Thursday, May 14. If all goes well, it's not out of the question that Woodruff will return before the end of the month, which would be a very encouraging sign for the veteran starter.

Woodruff's return will create an interesting decision for the Brewers, who currently have Logan Henderson filling in for Woody in their starting rotation. Henderson has looked excellent in Woodruff's stead, so it's possible he remains in the rotation and the Brewers change the role of either Brandon Sproat or Chad Patrick to make room for Big Woo.

Quinn Priester planning to restart rehab assignment this upcoming weekend, could return in early June

Priester's nerve injury, which falls in the family of thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS), has been frustrating to say the least. The right-hander experiences intermittent pain, which has prevented him from finding consistency in his rehab process. After a rocky three starts in Nashville over the last few weeks, in which he gave up nine earned runs and walked eight batters in five innings of work, Priester was pulled from his rehab assignment and placed back on the IL.

However, Priester completed a 50-pitch bullpen session yesterday, during the Brewers' off-day, and manager Pat Murphy was encouraged by the results, saying in his pregame interview today, "Quinn did very well. Surprisingly well." Such is the reality for someone facing a frustrating nerve injury: some days are great, and other days are tough. That said, it's nevertheless encouraging that Priester put together a strong showing yesterday.

Assuming he strings together a few more encouraging starts during his second rehab stint, which is set to begin this upcoming Saturday, it's not out of the question that Priester is back pitching games for the Brewers in early June. That said, TOS is a tricky injury, and Priester's prognosis could switch on a dime, so fans should be cautious in their excitement regarding Priester's return.

Akil Baddoo set to begin rehab assignment on Friday after Spring Training quad strain

Akil Baddoo was one of just three major league free agents the Brewers signed this past offseason, but he has yet to make his debut for the Brew Crew. A quadriceps strain in Spring Training has kept Baddoo away from the field for the entirety of the 2026 season, but that's about to change.

As announced by the Brewers earlier today, Baddoo is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds this upcoming Friday, May 15. Assuming everything goes well in Nashville, Baddoo could be off the injured list as early as late May.

However, it's important to note that Baddoo still has minor league options remaining, so just because he's back to full strength does not mean he will be immediately added to the Brewers' active roster. Baddoo will be battling with Blake Perkins and, when he returns from his own injury, Brandon Lockridge for the fourth outfielder spot on the Brewers' roster. Regardless, he's an intriguing addition to the Brewers' outfield depth, which they've already needed to tap into this year.

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