Woodruff's agenda: pitch, then parenthood

MILWAUKEE -- Brewers ace Brandon Woodruff will have a different kind of delivery in mind when he takes the mound against the Pirates on Sunday afternoon.

The game at 1:10 p.m. CT is available free on MLB.TV.

On Monday, Woodruff plans to travel home to Mississippi, where his pregnant wife, Jonie, is to be induced on Tuesday. The couple’s first child is a girl to be named Kyler Elise. (Brandon’s middle name is Kyle and Jonie’s middle name is Elise.) If everything goes according to schedule, Dad will be back with the Brewers for his next scheduled start.

It’s a lot to think about. Woodruff knows he will have to keep his emotions in check.

“I would say especially this morning, I woke up thinking, like, 'Man is getting real close,'” he said. “It's weird to describe. I've got to go out and do my job [Sunday] and focus on that, and then right after that I'm heading home. I'm going to be excited either way. I don't know if it's quite hit me yet that I'm about to have a child in two or three days.”

Could that extra emotion actually help? Woodruff is famously mellow on the mound, and the Brewers have been working with him this season to speed up his pace.

“I hope so,” Woodruff said. “If that's the case, I would love that feeling every time. We'll find out. It's just a crazy year. I'm excited for bringing a new life into the world. It a crazy time coming into the crazy world, but, you know, everything about this year has been a little different. So we'll just kind of go with it. Hopefully, with the excitement and everything of wanting to get home, hopefully, that'll help me for sure lock in.”

In the event the plan requires amending, the Brewers have some wiggle room because of an off-day on the schedule on Thursday.

“He's about to go experience the greatest thing we can all experience,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “So, you just hope it goes well and that he and Jonie have a great day. And when he's ready to come back, he'll be back.”

Playing the matchups
Jedd Gyorko hit two home runs one night and was out of the lineup the next. It was an extreme example of what has happened many times this season as the Brewers continue playing the matchups with their many interchangeable pieces.

That’s how this team was built, with Gyorko and Eric Sogard signed to share third base among the Brewers’ handful of platoons. With a right-hander on the mound Saturday for Pittsburgh, left-handed-hitting Sogard got the start. Counsell employed his 31st different lineup combination in 32 games. He has already used nine different leadoff hitters.

“Just stay ready. That’s pretty much the only thing I can do,” Gyorko said. “When the opportunities come, make sure I’m ready for them and stay as ready as I can. ‘Couns’ knows what he’s doing.”

Counsell, for the record, said he thought about bucking the numbers and going with Gyorko. But he didn’t, and he’s not alone. The old notion that a steady lineup somehow increases offensive output has gone extinct in baseball, evidenced by the top four offenses in the game. The White Sox employed 29 different lineups in their first 32 games through Friday. The Padres and Dodgers had each used 32 lineups in 34 games. The Mets had used a different lineup in each of their first 31 games.

“I think when you’ve got as many versatile players as we have -- and we have a couple platoons in there -- it’s going to be tough to have the same lineup twice,” Gyorko said.

Last call
• The Brewers probably won’t name a starting pitcher for Monday until they clear Sunday’s game, Counsell said. Originally, Adrian Houser was lined up for that day, but he was pushed back when the Brewers and Reds collectively decided to follow the lead of the Milwaukee Bucks and not play Wednesday in the name of social justice. One option, if he’s rested and available, is right-hander Freddy Peralta, who has been pitching out of the bullpen but is stretched out to work four-plus innings.

• A day after the Brewers formally announced his release, utility man Brock Holt agreed to terms with the Nationals on Saturday.