It has been an offseason of change for the Milwaukee Brewers. You can make the case that it’s been an offseason of change in the National League Central Division. Teams have lost some key players, including the Brewers.
The Chicago Cubs lost Kyle Tucker, but signed Alex Bregman and acquired starting pitcher Edward Cabrera from the Miami Marlins. The St. Louis Cardinals lost Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray in trades with the Boston Red Sox. Milwaukee traded ace Freddy Peralta to the New York Mets, but brought back Brandon Woodruff.
He was brought back after he accepted his one-year, $22.025 million qualifying offer. Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report listed Woodruff as a potential bust candidate for 2026.
Milwaukee Brewers Pitcher Brandon Woodruff Listed As Potential Bust Candidate For 2026
Woodruff missed the 2024 season recovering from shoulder surgery. He didn’t make his debut last season until July, right before the All-Star Break. To his credit, he pitched well, but there are still questions surrounding him with his health.
“Brandon Woodruff accepted the one-year, $22.025 million qualifying offer from the Brewers this offseason. While some say there’s no such thing as a bad one-year deal, that theory will be tested if Woodruff isn’t able to stay healthier than he has in recent seasons,” wrote Kelly.
The 33-year-old right-hander went 7-2 in the second half of the season last summer with a 3.20 ERA and a 1.3 WAR. He pitched 64.2 innings in 12 starts with 83 strikeouts and just 14 walks. However, an injury in mid-September ended his season before Milwaukee’s playoff run, which again puts his health in question.
Milwaukee Brewers Need Big Season From Brandon Woodruff
Now that Peralta is gone, Milwaukee needs a big season from Woodruff and to have him stay healthy. He’ll have to be the ace with Quinn Priester, Jacob Misiorowski, Chad Patrick, and Kyle Harrison expected to round it out. There are some question marks in there. Harrison was just acquired from Boston in the Caleb Durbin trade. Brandon Sproat, who pitched at Florida, was acquired in the Peralta trade and has a high upside.
“To make matters worse, the Brewers traded Freddy Peralta to the Mets in January, so it will burn even more this year if Woodruff can’t stay healthy, even if there’s reason to be excited about Jacob Misiorowski and Quinn Priester,” Kelly wrote.
There certainly is reason to be hopeful of their two youngsters, Misiorowski and Priester. However, if manager Pat Murphy can get some solid seasons out of his starters and they stay healthy, who’s to say that they can’t make another run in the division?
Woodruff is a two-time All-Star, and it is easy to say before the season starts that this is a deal that could come back and haunt the Brewers in 2026. When the dust settles on the Peralta trade, it is going to work out pretty well for Milwaukee. If Harrison, who struggled with the San Francisco Giants and fell victim to a numbers game in Boston, can pitch well, then Milwaukee will have something for Murphy to work with.
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