The Trade Deadline approach for the Milwaukee Brewers already should have included a deep exploration of the starting pitcher market, but man, if it didn’t, it really should now.
Bad news:
Brewers lose All-Star pitcher Brandon Woodruff to the IL with an oblique injury.
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For those of us following Cole Hamels’ oblique injury and recovery, this will sound all too familiar:
“I came out for the fourth inning there and warmup pitches were all good, and then that first pitch I threw in the fourth, I kind of felt a little grab, nothing too big,” Woodruff told MLB.com after the game. “But then, the second pitch, I really felt it grab pretty good. Hopefully it’s precautionary, hopefully it doesn’t take too long, hopefully I’ll get over it pretty quick and get back to pitching.”
Woodruff is getting an MRI to evaluate the extent of the injury today.
As you know, even a “quick” recovery from an oblique injury could have Woodruff – who has been the Brewers best starter by WAR (by a mile) – out for a month. And if it’s a more serious strain than that? I’d imagine that’s a scary proposition for a playoff contender whose rotation currently otherwise features a successful Zach Davies, a passable Chase Anderson, a fingers-crossed Gio Gonzalez, and a disastrous Jhoulys Chacin (and no reliable quality depth behind them to speak of).
The Brewers are currently in second place in the NL Central, 2.0 games behind the Cubs.