Extra rest benefits Woodruff
Right-hander feels fresh after making 26 starts
The Milwaukee Brewers' plan to expand their rotation by one pitcher to keep everyone fresher coming off the 60-game pandemic sprint of 2020 has by and large been a rousing success.
Aside from several bouts of COVID-19, a two-week stint on the injured list for a sore right shoulder for Freddy Peralta (which ended Friday against the St.
Louis Cardinals) and some plain old bad luck for
Brett Anderson, the team's group of starters has been both healthy and productive.
And maybe just as important, there's more in the tank as the Brewers look to lock up the NL Central and a fourth consecutive spot in the postseason over the final month.
Staff co-ace Brandon Woodruff left little doubt he feels like he's at the peak of his physical powers despite the fact that each successive start he makes – like Corbin Burnes, Peralta and Adrian Houser – sets a new career standard for him.
“Certainly,” he said when asked if he feels fresher at this point due to the additional rest he's accrued. “Getting to September healthy, and hopefully staying healthy. Our plan all along has been, ‘How are we going to be able to perform our best and be healthy for the whole year coming off 60 games?'
“That’s the challenge. Thankfully – and luckily enough – we’re healthy up to this point. We plan on going another two months; that’s our mindset.”
Entering Friday, Woodruff ranked eighth in the major leagues with 1571⁄3 innings and he has logged those in 26 starts, a total that leaves him two short of tying for the lead.
Woodruff’s previous highs were 22 starts and 1212⁄3 innings in 2019, a season highlighted for him personally by his first all-star nod but one that also saw him miss two months with an oblique strain.
With only a few more scheduled starts, Woodruff will fall short of the 200-inning mark, an important benchmark for any starting pitcher. But with 185 strikeouts, Woodruff is within striking distance of 200 in that category.
Any way you slice it, it’s been a successful and productive run to date for the 28-year-old, who’s 9-7 with a 2.35 earned run average and a WHIP of 0.94 – numbers that have him squarely in the conversation for the Cy Young Award in the NL – with the stage set by the team’s conservative handling of Woodruff and the rest of his rotation mates.
“If we had stayed five (days), you’re looking at mid-30s. I thought about it midway through the summer that it’d catch up to you and it’d wear you down,” he said. “We’ve even had some times where we’ve gone on seven (days of rest). So, I think it’s helped.
“The front office and the coaching staff has been really smart about it. A lot of us are hard-headed about it. We want to go out and pitch, we want to compete and we don’t want to mess up with routine and scheduling. But we understand there’s a bigger picture, and the crazy thing is it’s all playing out right now and that’s awesome.
“I can’t tell you if they envisioned this happening like it has. But you know what? It has, and we believe in ourselves and we believe we can go out and pitch against anybody and beat anybody.”
Entering Friday, Brandon Woodruff ranked eighth in the major leagues with 1571⁄3 innings and he has logged those in 26 starts.
Wong on paternity list
Second baseman Kolten Wong will miss at least a couple of this weekend’s three-game series with his former team after being placed on the paternity list with his wife, Alissa, expecting the couple’s first child.
Jace Peterson – who has been swinging a hot bat of late – assumed Wong’s customary spot leading off while Luis Urías took over at second base.
Rightfielder Avisaíl García was also out of the lineup, with Peterson taking over in right. García was removed from Thursday’s game at San Francisco and has been dealing with back, leg and hand soreness in recent weeks.
“This is a day-to-day thing, is what I would describe it as,” said manager Craig Counsell. “He’s just kind of generally sore. His body is sore. There’s not really an injury, so to speak.
“There’s just some soreness and tightness.”
Escobar returns from IL
Aside from Peralta taking the mound, there was a significant addition to the Brewers’ lineup with Eduardo Escobar being reinstated from the injured list.
Escobar, who has been out since Aug. 24 with a hamstring strain, was immediately placed into the cleanup spot and started at third base.
“He’s doing good,” Counsell said. “He ran the bases on Wednesday very extensively. I was getting tired watching it. He did great there so he’s ready to go. We put him through a pretty good test and he’s in a good place.”
Aside from the obvious benefits of adding a switch-hitting slugger to the heart of the batting order, the Brewers will benefit from Escobar’s return by providing more positional versatility as well as more depth.
“I look at it more like you’re just getting players back so we can rotate some players a little better and get some guys some days off,” Counsell said. “We’re in a 16-in-a-row stretch here. We’re in a stretch of the season where days off are pretty valuable for players.
“Anytime we can get them (a day off ), and getting a player back – we’re probably getting Kolten back after the weekend – that’s something (positive). Just getting players back is important.”
Right-hander Alec Bettinger was optioned back to Class AAA Nashville to accommodate Escobar’s activation.
Shortstop Willy Adames also appears to have turned the corner with regard to the left quadriceps issue that’s left the Brewers to spot him days off over the last 10 days. He started at shortstop and was hitting in his usual No. 2 spot Friday.
“He’s great,” said Counsell. “He lobbied hard to play on Thursday. He felt really good on Wednesday night. That’s what the progression was about, gaining confidence in his (quad). There are plays that happen when you’re out there that let you gain confidence.
“I think there were some plays that happened Tuesday and Wednesday which (head athletic trainer Scott Barringer) and I thought was a great sign. I think it’s something he’s still going to have to take care of, but he’s certainly in a better place than he was a week ago.”