The Milwaukee Brewers placed right-handed starter Brandon Woodruff on the injured list on Monday, continuing a recent trend that has seen them lose several key contributors to the shelf in short order. Woodruff's damage, for posterity's sake, has been classified as a sprained ankle.
"The diagnosis, it's a very similar injury to [shortstop Willy Adames'], actually," manager Craig Counsell told Curt Hogg. "It's a high ankle sprain. So we've got to back off him. He's experiencing the pain still when he throws and so we just need to back off that and calm that down."
Woodruff, 29 years old, has pitched better than his seasonal numbers indicate. In nine starts, he's amassed a 4.74 ERA (87 ERA+) and a 4.08 strikeout-to-walk ratio, but those numbers are skewed by a pair of dismal outings that saw him surrender 13 combined runs, or half his year-long total. Were one able to erase those starts, his seasonal ERA would drop to 2.78.
The Brewers were victimized by injuries throughout May. Woodruff and Adames were just two of four notable Brewers to require placement on the IL, with the others being outfielder Hunter Renfroe and starter Freddy Peralta. All of those players remain sidelined heading into June.
Woodruff's absence, like Peralta's before it, will require the Brewers to get creative to fill out their rotation. They've already shifted reliever Aaron Ashby to the starting five and promoted prospect Ethan Small for a spot-start debut on Monday. (He was optioned to the minors afterward.) The Brewers would seem to have two obvious internal candidates to take Woodruff's spot (projected to come up next on Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs). Those candidates are veteran Josh Lindblom and prospect Dylan File. Neither is on the 40-player roster, meaning the Brewers would have to make a corresponding move before they could bring either up to The Show.
Even with the recent rash of injuries, the Brewers have had good "luck" this season in the health department. They'll enter Tuesday having lost the third fewest days to injury in the majors, according to Spotrac.
