Brewers’ Brandon Woodruff World Series roster decision enters final hours with MLB approval question looming

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

MILWAUKEE — Brandon Woodruff’s status on the Milwaukee Brewers’ World Series roster is still undecided with hours to go before Friday’s deadline to submit a 26-man team, according to information provided as the club prepares for Game 1. With the World Series roster due at 10 a.m. CT on Friday, Woodruff’s readiness has advanced quickly enough to keep him in the conversation, but the Brewers’ ability to replace him on the roster if needed is tied to how Major League Baseball would handle a substitution related to a preexisting injury.

Woodruff, Milwaukee’s longest-tenured player, entered the week in a unique position: he was initially expected to be in the early stages of recovering from another right shoulder surgery at this point in the season. That surgery had been scheduled for August, about a month after Woodruff walked off the mound at Chase Field in Arizona following the latest setback with his surgically repaired shoulder. He missed the past three postseasons due to that injury, and the club anticipated another absence if surgery had proceeded.

Instead, an August scan of Woodruff’s shoulder showed “surprising improvement,” leading him to cancel surgery and begin a throwing program. If everything went to plan, the timeline would put him in position to pitch just in time for the World Series, provided the Brewers advanced. They did reach the Fall Classic, turning a process that was once expected to end in more recovery into a late-season roster decision.

The Brewers evaluated Woodruff’s progress on-field as they neared their final roster call. The source states that Woodruff faced hitters for the first time on Tuesday and “bounced back fine.” The team is now weighing whether his recent throwing and live batting results are enough to make him part of the 26-man group for the World Series, where workload and availability can become especially important in extended games.

Major League roster mechanics add a specific complication to the decision. The source reports that, while an injured player can typically be replaced on the roster, the Brewers worry that Major League Baseball would not approve a substitution in this case because it would fall under a preexisting injury. As of Thursday afternoon, Milwaukee’s best understanding was that such a request “likely would be denied,” and the Brewers, MLB, and Woodruff’s agent, Bo McKinnis, were still working through that scenario.

Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold met with Woodruff for a face-to-face discussion on Thursday afternoon as the decision deadline approached. The source also describes the current uncertainty in stark terms, citing that it was “literally a 50-50 tossup right now.” Neither Woodruff nor Arnold was presented as certain that he would be on the roster at that point.

Woodruff said he cares about “one thing,” winning, and acknowledged the difficulty of the call. The source also notes that, once Woodruff started throwing, he wanted to become “an option at this point,” while recognizing that he had not pitched in a game in three months, leaving additional variables to resolve for a roster meant for immediate competition.

The Brewers’ roster construction also matters. Milwaukee carried 13 pitchers and 13 position players in the first two rounds of the postseason, the source says, but used only 11 of the pitchers in advancing through the NLDS and NLCS. The two pitchers who did not appear in those series were right-hander Chad Patrick and left-hander Kyle Harrison, meaning that if Woodruff is added, the Brewers would have to determine which of those arms would be left off the World Series roster.

Pitching readiness is part of the evaluation, including the type of velocity and command Woodruff can generate after shoulder recovery and a long absence from games. The source describes Woodruff as known for an “angry” four-seam fastball that has previously touched triple digits. In his most recent simulated work on Tuesday, Woodruff was sitting 90–92 in a 23-pitch session, facing Brewers hitters listed by the source as Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang, William Contreras, Christian Yelich, and, when he needed an extra hitter to hit his pitch count, Jake Bauers.

The Brewers and Woodruff are also considering whether a velocity bump could show up once he is pitching at American Family Field with fans in the World Series. The source indicates Woodruff would expect that kind of increase in game settings, while the club must still judge whether it is sufficient to get outs and whether the shoulder can hold up through the demands of high-stverage innings, including potential extra-inning scenarios.

Within the Brewers clubhouse, teammates discussed Woodruff’s return as part of the team’s decision context, while stopping short of predicting the final roster outcome. Contreras said the velocity “was there” and credited Woodruff’s work in getting back, describing the franchise’s desire to have “Big Woo” on the team. Chourio said the team would be excited if Woodruff makes the roster, and Bauers said that regardless of the decision, having Woodruff around had been significant for young pitchers and the organization’s culture.

Woodruff’s impact extends beyond the current roster debate. The source states that since his Major League debut in 2017, he has dealt with injuries along the way but is 55–30 with a 3.10 ERA in 790 1/3 innings over the past nine seasons when healthy. It also reports that he was an All-Star in 2019 and 2021 and that his ERA is the best in franchise history for a pitcher with at least 500 innings. With that background, the Brewers are balancing proven track record against the immediate question of availability and MLB substitution rules as they finalize their World Series roster by Friday’s 10 a.m. CT deadline.