When will Brandon Woodruff return to Brewers rotation this season?

The hits just keep on coming to pitchers across the Major Leagues, as the Milwaukee Brewers announced just hours before their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night that ace Brandon Woodruff had been placed on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation.

Woodruff has established himself as one of the best pitchers in the National League over the last few seasons, with a 2.84 ERA and an 11 K/9 over 406.1 innings from 2020-2022. He’s a two-time All Star with a top-five NL Cy Young Award finish on his resume, and the one-two punch he formed with Corbin Burnes is the foundation to the Brewers’ formula for success.

Milwaukee will need Woodruff back in the fold to make a run at the NL Central crown, so when can we expect him back?

Brandon Woodruff injury update

May 24 Update: Woodruff tried to do too much too quickly and ended up needing a 4-5 break from throwing. He did start playing catch again today, and while there are many more benchmarks to hit, there is still hope he can rejoin Milwaukee by the end of June.

April 17 update — Woodruff initially didn’t sound too worried, but an MRI of his shoulder begged to differ.

It’s a sub-scap strain, which won’t require surgery but could keep him out weeks to months.

If there’s a silver lining here, it’s that Woodruff doesn’t seem to be too concerned about a long absence:

It sounds less like Woodruff was experiencing pain in the shoulder than that he just didn’t recover quite as quickly as usual from his previous start against the St. Louis Cardinals. The team understandably wants to be extra cautious with its ace, so hopefully he’ll only need to miss a start or two — without any need for a rehab start — before coming back.

Janson Junk will take Woodruff’s place in the rotation in the meantime and start Wednesday against Arizona, but he’s not a recommended fantasy play.