Woodruff to miss more time after MRI reveals shoulder strain

SAN DIEGO – Brandon Woodruff and the Brewers still don’t know how long the two-time All-Star right-hander will be sidelined with a shoulder injury, but they know it will take longer than the two weeks they’d initially hoped.

Multiple evaluations of an MRI scan yielded a firmer diagnosis for Woodruff: a sub-scapular strain. Instead of attempting to return to the Brewers’ rotation after a minimum stint on the 15-day IL, he will refrain from picking up a baseball for the remainder of this road trip. Woodruff will then be evaluated by team physicians in Milwaukee at the end of next week.

“I'll be fine. That has been stressed,” Woodruff said. “It's just going to take time.”

Veteran right-hander Colin Rea, who pitched into the sixth inning of a spot start against the Padres on Thursday, will remain in the rotation to pitch Tuesday night in Seattle, and the Brewers also have right-hander Janson Junk available as depth at Triple-A Nashville (he was optioned back to the Minors after making a spot start Wednesday at Arizona).

At the same time, right-hander Adrian Houser is working through a rehab assignment at Nashville as he comes back from a groin strain. Originally, he was ticketed for a multi-inning relief role. Now, he’ll start and pitch three innings next time out, and could be stretched out as a starter if the Brewers need him.

“I'll say this again -- you don't have coverage for Brandon Woodruff,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “We have somebody that's going to pitch, but it's not Brandon Woodruff. So, it's a loss. But Colin Rea did a heck of a job the first time around and he's kind of in that fifth spot so to speak right now, and he'll keep getting chances.”

Woodruff spent time on the injured list last year with a circulation issue in the fingers of his pitching hand, and he’s also logged IL time in his career with an oblique strain. But he’s never had an arm injury in his professional career, so this is relatively uncharted territory for the 30-year-old.

He was coming off a terrific Spring Training and two excellent starts to begin the regular season, but after topping out at 98.5 mph in the first inning of his April 7 start against the Cardinals at American Family Field, Woodruff began to feel a dull discomfort in the back of his shoulder and his velocity began to drop.

When he threw his between-starts bullpen session in Arizona, he knew immediately his shoulder was not right. However, it is a positive that it doesn’t require surgery.

“And it also happened in the very first part of the season,” Woodruff said. “If this was something that happened midseason, All Star break, right before or after that time, I would probably end up being done, to be honest, for the season. So that's a positive.

“And look, it's one of those things that just is what it is. You deal with it. You try to be a great teammate every day because we're having fun. Like, we're winning baseball games and we're playing good. I want to be a part of that.”

But that urge to contribute does not supersede the importance of getting healthy. For Woodruff, he understands that he can only help the Brewers reach their lofty goals if he’s able to step onto the mound.

“It stinks I can't do it out on the field, but there has to be some way I can come to the field every day and try to help somebody out. … I will do everything possible to -- one, I'm not going to rush this, I'm not going to come back too early and just for the sake of coming back early,” he said. “That's just not going to do anybody any good. I'm going to take my time, I'm going to listen to my body and trust the rehab process and just go through that, and hopefully come back at whatever point that is throughout the season and then try to finish up strong.”