Recently DFA'd right-hander reportedly remaining with Brewers on minor league deal

Just two days before Opening Day, in need of another multi-inning reliever in their bullpen, the Milwaukee Brewers traded pitching prospect K.C. Hunt and cash to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for right-hander Jake Woodford. Brewers fans were certainly familiar with the 29-year-old Woodford, who started his career with the St. Louis Cardinals and made nine appearances against the Brew Crew from 2020 to 2023.

After joining the Brewers, Woodford immediately became the multi-inning, low-leverage or "mop-up" arm in Pat Murphy's bullpen -- a role that is by no means easy for a big-leaguer to fill, but one that Woodford assumed admirably for the first month of the season. When the calendar flipped to May, Woodford was sporting a solid 4.30 ERA through his first nine appearances (14.2 innings pitched) with the Brewers.

Unfortunately, a 13.50 ERA in the month of May, followed by a poor outing against the San Francisco Giants on June 4, in which Woodford allowed seven hits and four earned runs in three innings of work, made things look rather bleak for the veteran right-hander. With intriguing arms like Craig Yoho and Brian Fitzpatrick waiting in the wings in Triple-A, and Woodford out of minor league options, the Brewers made the difficult decision of designating the recent trade acquisition for assignment back on June 5.

Woodford cleared waivers and was outrighted by the Brewers to Triple-A Nashville shortly thereafter. However, due to his MLB service time, Woodford was able to reject the outright assignment and become a free agent instead, but after just one day on the free agent market, he's reportedly agreed to a new minor league deal with the Brewers.

Brewers clearly see something they like in Jake Woodford, who remains in the organization on a minor league pact

Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors was the first to report the news of Woodford re-signing with the Brewers on a minor league deal. Included in Adams' report was the fact that Woodford has opt-out dates on July 1 and August 4, meaning if the Brewers don't add him back to their major league roster before either one of those dates, the right-hander can opt-out of his contract and once again become a free agent.

Between trading prospect K.C. Hunt, who was the Brewers' Co-Minor League Pitcher of the Year back in 2024, and re-signing Woodford to a minor league pact shortly after he became a free agent, it's safe to say the Brewers are intrigued by Woodford's profile. Perhaps they were even working through some changes with the right-hander at the time of his DFA and want to see those through before completely giving up on him.

The Brewers did already have Woodford essentially ditch his four-seam fastball and start throwing his cutter far more often. They've also slightly improved the horizontal movement on both his sweeper and changeup. However, both of Woodford's fastball shapes -- the cutter and sinker -- were getting far too much of the plate throughout the first two months of the season, and as a result, opposing hitters were slugging more than .600 against each pitch.

Woodford's lack of control doesn't show up in his walk rate, which was an excellent 6.3% during his first stint with the Brewers, but rather a lack of command within the zone is what really punished the right-hander. He's not deceptive enough with his offerings to miss bats in the zone, making it imperative that Woodford lives on the edges of the strike zone.

The 29-year-old will presumably head to Triple-A Nashville where he will continue to work with the organization's excellent pitching department in search of the type of success that would result in his promotion back to the big leagues prior to his opt-out date.

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