Brewers' Pat Murphy provides concerning injury update on Brandon Woodruff

If there was any hope left for Brewers fans about Brandon Woodruff returning to full health at the start of this year's spring training, manager Pat Murphy has sufficiently snuffed that out, delivering a dose of reality this week.

In an interview with Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel earlier this week, Murphy said Woodruff won't be back to 100% when the team reports to Arizona next week.

Woodruff's status was already in question, even after having missed an entire year with the shoulder capsule injury sustained at the end of 2023. Woodruff addressed his status in early January, telling reporters, "I honestly can't answer that question" when asked about his availability for Opening Day 2025.

While Woodruff's comments left the question a bit open-ended, Murphy seems confident that his former ace is going to need more time. Asked about both Woodruff and outfielder Christian Yelich, Murphy said "I don't think either will be 100% at the beginning of camp ... and I think Woody's probably a little more realistically down the road."

Brewers Injury Update: Brandon Woodruff needs more time

As fans will remember, Woodruff was seemingly on pace to throw to live batters at the end of last fall, but he unfortunately wasn't healthy enough to do so. Woodruff has recently said that he just wasn't ready and that his shoulder wasn't cooperating, but also that he's made giant leaps forward in his rehab over the winter and that he's feeling much more confident about his status now than he was four months ago.

However long it takes, it's critical that Woodruff takes his time to ensure that his shoulder is properly healed before getting back out there at full speed. Shoulder injuries are notoriously nasty and have ended many careers, even in recent years. A capsule repair isn't as cut and dried as a UCL repair, for instance.

With the state of the Brewers rotation though, it would be nice to have Woodruff back sooner than later. At present, Freddy Peralta is set to carry the group into 2025. Outside of Peralta, there are major question marks about the long-term health of the recently acquired Nestor Cortes and the effectiveness of guys like Aaron Civale and DL Hall. Getting a healthy Woodruff back in the mix will be important if this team wants to be competitive down the stretch.

At the end of the day, though, Woodruff's long-term health is going to trump keeping the team in a playoff race. The team will be wise not to rush him back. But as the righty has said himself, being on a one-year prove it deal is going to be a big motivator for him to get back on the mound and pitching like we know he can.