As we approach September, the Milwaukee Brewers find themselves firmly in the heart of the NL Wild Card race. Their bullpen is one of the main reasons that they are in this position. For the majority of the season, Milwaukee’s bullpen has been among the best in the National League. However, that hasn’t been the case lately. Josh Hader, Jeremy Jeffress, and Joakim Soria have continued to get the job done, but beyond those three is a glaring lack of reliable arms. Corey Knebel is a shell of his former self. Matt Albers and Taylor Williams been injured and have struggled when healthy. Corbin Burnes has shown flashes of greatness but has dealt with some inconsistency. Dan Jennings has struggled over his past few outings. Jordan Lyles has allowed seven runs in six innings since joining the team. All of that has resulted in a 6.60 bullpen ERA in August, which is second-worst in the league.
The Brewers bullpen is not in very good shape right now. However, there might be someone in the organization who can help boost the relief unit: Brandon Woodruff.
The Pitcher Who Could Fix The Milwaukee Brewers Bullpen
Woodruff entered the season as the organization’s #3 prospect but has since graduated from prospect status. His overall big-league numbers don’t look very appealing. In 12 games, four of them starts, Woodruff carries a 4.80 ERA. However, the peripherals paint a much better picture. He’s struck out 24.6% of the hitters he’s faced, and his 3.60 DRA (Deserved Run Average) is solid. If you take out one disastrous start at Coors Field (7 runs in 3 innings), Woodruff has a 3.00 ERA on the season.
Woodruff was developed as a starter but has been used as a versatile swing piece when he’s been with the big league team. He’s been shuttled back and forth between the big leagues and Triple-A this year, and he has yet to get a long look for the Brewers in any role. With the bullpen struggling and September roster expansion coming soon, the team should promote Woodruff and convert him into a high-leverage reliever.
Woodruff has done a nice job pitching out of the bullpen when he’s been with the Brewers. In 14 1/3 relief innings, he has allowed 11 hits and just two walks while striking out 18. That translates to a 3.14 ERA, 2.87 FIP, 11.30 K/9, and 1.26 BB/9 as a reliever. Those are numbers that would be a huge boost to the Brewers bullpen.
Woodruff Could Excel as a Full-Time Reliever
The hard-throwing Woodruff has a profile that would likely play well in relief. As a starter, he sits in the 93-96 range with his fastball. In shorter stints, he consistently throws his fastball in the high-90’s, topping out at 99 miles per hour coming out of the bullpen. When Woodruff is commanding his high-velocity heater, he can be tough to hit.
The hard fastball is also tough to make contact with when Woodruff is able to locate it up in the zone:
Woodruff also possesses an above-average slider, but his changeup is a subpar offering. Pitchers who lack a quality third pitch often are better fits for the bullpen than the rotation.
Woodruff has dominated the first time through the order this season. In addition to his excellent relief numbers this year, he’s also been excellent his first time facing the order in games that he has started. He’s held opponents to a .219/.306/.344 slash. That line increases substantially to .296/.394/.481 the second time through. Woodruff is at his best when opponents see him for the first time, and he would only face the order once as a reliever.
The Brewers bullpen has no real reliable options behind their best three relievers. This is a problem because Jeffress, Hader, and Soria can’t pitch every day. Brandon Woodruff just might be the answer to this problem. When September hits, the Brewers should call up Woodruff and start having him work in high-leverage situations. It’s not guaranteed to work, but could it go much worse than it has for some of the other relievers? If it does work, the Brewers could find themselves with another high-leverage reliever, which is incredibly valuable as they enter the stretch run of a playoff push.
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