The Milwaukee Brewers announced good news for their pitching staff on Tuesday, but the announcement also sparked some questions about the status of another player.
The Brewers announced that starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff will begin a minor league rehab assignment with the Rookie-level ACL Brewers this week.
The right-handed pitcher has been out for Milwaukee since May 1 after right shoulder inflammation landed him on the 15-day injured list. The 33-year-old was experiencing a drop in velocity and discomfort to start his season.
Despite this, Woodruff pitched well in his six starts to begin his 2026 campaign. He posted a 3.60 with a 1.03 WHIP and 25 strikeouts across 30 innings. He will start his rehab back to the major league and should be back before the All-Star break.
Even through injury concerns during his career, Woodruff has been a consistent piece of the Brewers pitching staff for the past nine seasons. His last time posting above a 3.60 ERA was in 2019, since then he has been dominant on the mound.
Woodruff's return certainly sparks questions about the rest of the Brewers pitching staff, including who will be the odd man out after his return.
All signs right now can point to rookie right-hander Brandon Sproat. Sproat was acquired by the Brewers in the trade that sent pitchers Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers to the New York Mets.
Sproat was New York's No. 1 ranked prospect during the 2025 season. He was called up near the end of the season and delivered four starts to a 4.79 ERA.
The 25-year-old has not improved for the Brewers to begin this season. In his 12 games so far for the team, Sproat is pitching to a 6.17 ERA with 54 strikeouts across 54 innings.
Sproat is getting hit quite hard, per Baseball Savant, he has a Hard Hit Percentage of 43.4, which ranks in the 21st percentile in the league. Along with this, his four-seam fastball and sinker, two pitches he heavily relies on, have very poor metrics.
Sproat certainly has the arsenal to be great with his six-pitch mix. Perhaps a couple starts in the minor leagues could help the young starter reach his full potential.
More updates will be expected to come with Woodruff starting his rehab assignment, but we could see these two pitchers swapping places by mid-July if things do not change.
