Brandon Woodruff, once again, is on the cusp of his MLB return
The Milwaukee Brewers right-hander completed a simulated game in the sweltering heat June 23, throwing roughly 60 pitches across four simulated innings against Brewers hitters Jake Bauers, Andruw Monasterio, Daz Cameron and Eric Haase. Hours later, Woodruff spoke as optimistically about a return following a torn labrum in September 2023.
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'Everything felt great. The stuff was doing what I wanted it to do finally,' he said. 'The body is starting to move like I wanted to.'
Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff will go out on a rehab assignment either late this week or early next. After that, he believes it will be time to return a major-league mound.
Those words from Woodruff aren't nothing. In his most recent rehab stint, which ended with a line drive to the elbow in what was supposed to be his final outing before being activated from the injured list, Woodruff's fastball was sitting in the 89-90 mph, topping out around 93 mph.
Woodruff has indicated his body is moving better down the mound now, which is something of a silver lining from his latest shutdown because the time away from pitching in games allowed him to 'clean a lot of stuff up in the weight room and the mechanics.'
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'My body's starting to move without having to think about it, if that makes sense,' Woodruff said. 'I've been trying to do stuff and you feel certain stuff. I'm using these 2 weeks here and I've cleaned a lot of stuff up.'
Woodruff will go out on a rehab assignment, his third of the season, either late this week or early next. After that, he believes it will be time.
'I've always been a guy that, when I'm ready, I'm ready,' Woodruff said. '...I'm not saying that's going to lead to results but I know that I'm ready to go pitch and compete. I think I'm at that point now.'
The goal is no more bouts with getting hit by a line drive or suffering an ankle injury, which he did in his first rehab outing in what was expected to be his last start before returning.
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'I don't care what happens as long as I get the pitches in,' Woodruff said.
A loose timeframe for Woodruff's return to the Brewers could line up for the club's series in Miami from July 4-6 at loanDepot Park, the site of his last outing when he got hurt, or the following week against the Los Angeles Dodgers at home.
How, exactly, Woodruff looks when he takes the ball is a bit of a mystery still, even to Woodruff. But if you're taking the right-hander at his word, then there's reason for optimism.
'It takes time,' Woodruff said. 'You don't know when it's going to click, but each and every time you learn something from that experience, and you put it to use when you're down. It's been a puzzle but it's finally starting to come together.'
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Nestor Cortes has a target return date in mind
Left-hander Nestor Cortes also pitched in the simulated game, going one inning and roughly 25 pitches.
"Today it was more, I feel like when you're ramping up into these things, you're looking for one or the other – command or velo," Cortes said. "And today, I felt like I tried to do both at the same time just because I was hyped up for this. I hadn't been on the mound in two months. I think I was trying to do both and I got tired after about 15 pitches."
The recovery process for Cortes has generally been positive as he ramps up in his return from a left flexor strain. It's the same injury he dealt with last year but was hoping to be able to pitch through before it flared up late in spring training and again in his first two regular-season starts. He recently completed an endurance throwing program, which was the toughest step to this point in terms of throwing pain-free.
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"Kind of like building a callous and getting the arm up to where if I did throw 100 pitches I'm ok to bounce back the next day, and right now it feels like I can do so," Cortes said. "The last two bullpens have been really good to where it was like I kid around that I've got an inning today in me. Today I knew I didn't have that in me. The buildup is real.
"Obviously going two the next time will be a big step for me. After that, probably rehab games.'
If Cortes can get through a two-inning simulated game, scheduled tentatively for June 27, he plans to go to Nashville and begin a rehab assignment. The first outing for that is penciled in for July 2, then Cortes would like to be back by the first week following the all-star break.
"I'm finally eager to come back and pitch," Cortes said. "It's an exciting team. We've won a lot of games recently, so just want to be there to help in any way I can.'
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More: Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski's hat gets a call to the Hall of Fame
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff, once again, is on cusp of MLB return
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