On Sunday night, the Milwaukee Brewers will take another step towards a hopeful World Series berth. Milwaukee will begin the 2026 National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers with Jacob Misiorowski set to take the hill against Tarik Skubal.
It’s going to be a tough series, but Milwaukee has the talent to shock the baseball world and knock out the two-time reigning champs. The Brewers are just four wins away. And if they can make it, they will officially be on Brandon Woodruff watch. The righty has been throwing and MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy reported that he has taken another step towards a potential return this season and has begun throwing off a mound.
“Brandon Woodruff ā the veteran right-hander who not only avoided season-ending right shoulder surgery in August but also decided to embark on a long-shot bid to make the Brewersā World Series roster as a reliever if they can get that far ā threw off a mound for the first time,” McCalvy wrote. “Then he did it again Saturday afternoon before the Brewersā National League Championship Series workout.”
When Woodruff landed on the Injured List back in July, there was little hope. In fact, with surgery seemingly necessary, it appeared as though Woodruff’s 2026 season was over and potentially even his 2027 campaign. The Brewers star luckily avoided surgery and now he has a realistic chance of returning this season.
It’s going to be easier said than done. Milwaukee needs four wins against the two-time reigning champs and Woodruff needs to avoid any setbacks to even have a slight chance of being activated.
On top of just throwing, Woodruff shared a positive update about himself and said that he’s made “so much progress” and has “gotten a lot stronger.”
āIām going to try to force [Pat Murphy’s] hand,ā Woodruff said, as transcribed by McCalvy. āListen, Iām crazy. Itās a tight window but Iām just trying to check boxes. Iāve made so much progress, and Iāve gotten a lot stronger. Iāve been consistently recovering the last two weeks.”
Woodruff made nine starts for the Brewers in 2026 and had a 2.98 ERA in 45 1/3 innings pitched before landing on the Injured List in July. At this point, it’s known that Woodruff has been throwing and has reached the threshold of tossing off mounds. It’s too early to know how impactful he would be on the hill in a game, but that’s not the main point right now. In the immediate future, the Brewers have a lot on their hands against the Dodgers in the NLCS. Milwaukee can’t even think about adding more to the roster until it gets through.
If the Brewers can knock out Los Angeles in the NLCS, then this will become far more real. Imagine if the Brewers not only could get over the hump and into the World Series, but also get a homegrown star back? It would be like a movie.
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleĀ
