MILWAUKEE -- “We’ve got some moving parts,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said of his starting rotation on Friday, and that was an understatement.

Brandon Woodruff returned from a Minor League rehab assignment on Friday and is ready to rejoin the Major League rotation next week. Left-hander Aaron Ashby is scheduled for a light bullpen session Saturday that should help set a course for his return from the injured list. Chi Chi González, the journeyman brought in to help cover this spate of injuries, will get a second start on Sunday. And Jason Alexander, a 29-year-old rookie, has arguably been the Brewers’ most reliable starter over the past month not named Corbin Burnes. 

Meanwhile, the rest of the rotation is trying to hold things together. That includes Adrian Houser, who continued to sputter in Friday’s 9-4 loss to the Blue Jays because of one bad inning. 

Houser surrendered six straight hits to start the Blue Jays’ five-run second inning, all with an exit velocity above 95 mph including three north of 107 mph -- Alejandro Kirk’s 108 mph single, Teoscar Hernández's 107.3 mph single and Matt Chapman’s 109.1 mph three-run double.

Credit Houser for rebounding from that barrage to pitch through the sixth, preserving the Brewers bullpen as the series continues Saturday afternoon with Burnes on the mound. But it’s been a slog lately for Houser, who has a quality start only once in his last six outings over the past month, with a 6.54 ERA in that span.

“Very frustrating. I’m not pitching up to my standards,” Houser said. “I’m not pitching up to what I need to be pitching at and I’m not helping this team the way I need to be. I’m very disappointed in myself.”

Houser spoke of working on mechanical adjustments over the past two weeks to better work down the mound, which is key for a sinkerballer. He found it in a 10-pitch, 1-2-3 first inning. He lost it in the second and consistently missed over the middle of the plate as a result.

“He’s battling,” Counsell said. “There’s no question he’s not where he wants to be. He gave us six innings tonight and so that’s a positive sign from it. But when you string together a bad run of six hitters and they all do some damage, there’s going to be a crooked number on the board. We’ve got to avoid that to limit runs.”

“There were a few spots where it was good but I’m in and out of it right now,” Houser said. “We’re right there as far as being able to hammer it down. That’s what we’ll be doing this next week.”

This next week could tell a lot about what the Brewers rotation will look like in July.

The very best news is the imminent return of Woodruff, a two-time All-Star and two-time Opening Day starter who wasn’t off to the start he wanted this season (4.74 ERA in nine starts) but has the longest track record of any of Milwaukee’s current starting pitchers.

“The next start’s going to be in the big leagues,” Counsell said. “We’ll wait probably until after [Saturday's] game to figure out what’s next. We’ve got some moving parts this coming week, so we want to make sure we’ve got everyone lined up in the best way to be successful.”

Woodruff landed on the IL with a sprained right ankle on May 30 and has lingered there because of Raynaud’s syndrome, a condition that causes numbness in the fingers on his pitching hand, especially his middle finger. Those symptoms have been receding by the day, he said, and while there’s a chance they may persist for days or weeks or even months, Woodruff was confident after throwing 74 pitches in five solid innings for High A Wisconsin on Thursday that he can navigate them.

“I’m ready to go,” Woodruff said. “I want to be out there with the boys. I’m ready.”

He added, “I’ll manage what I’ve got each day. It’s been pretty consistent. I threw in the first rehab game and didn’t really have any problems, and then throwing that week was pretty good, and then [Thursday] night was even better. I don’t completely know when it’s going to go away and it feels [normal] like my left-hand, but when I go out on the mound, it’s not going to be a thing where the fingers are an excuse. That’s off the table.”

Likewise, Houser wasn’t making excuses after the Brewers lost for the seventh time in his last nine starts.

“I just need to keep working and going at it and get things turned around,” Houser said.