Could 'Brade Milruff', An Amalgamation Of Pitchers Be The Crew’s Most Effective Fifth Starter?

[Harold Hutchison]

Two pitchers with good track records in Milwaukee are coming off arm injuries. Brandon Woodruff has posted some historically good numbers (not to mention a moment of glory), while Wade Miley has been solid. Could the Brewers help both succeed with a trick from their Rookie league teams?

Brandon Woodruff is coming off a shoulder surgery that cost him much of 2023 and all of 2024, while Miley’s 2024 was cut short by Tommy John surgery. There are questions about how much they could pitch, but the bullpen’s unpredictability comes with its risks. However, Milwaukee may find an answer from its farm system – specifically, its Rookie league teams.

Their two Dominican Summer League and Arizona Complex League teams often take a “piggyback” approach with their young pitchers. One will start the game and be relieved by another after three or four innings. Both of the young pitchers would operate on a “starter’s” routine, but the wear and tear on their arms is greatly reduced in the early portion of their careers.

Overall, this approach has worked and is part of how the Brewers have established themselves with a very young Triple-A rotation. Jacob Misiorowski, Carlos F. Rodriguez, and Logan Henderson are among the Brewers’ pitching prospects who have benefitted from this developmental approach.

Given that Woodruff and Miley are both coming off significant arm injuries and lengthy layoffs from pitching, the Brewers may find that a “piggyback” approach used for their young pitching prospects is the answer to their conundrum about how to keep them both in the rotation while reducing the risk that they could re-injure their arms. Woodruff and Miley could maintain the routine of being starting pitchers, but neither would be racking up massive pitch counts.

However, this approach may bring benefits for Woodruff and Miley in terms of health and reduce Milwaukee’s reliance on the Milwaukee-Nashville shuttle in 2025. The Brewers have something to gain besides keeping two darn good pitchers from making trips to the injured list. In fact, at the game-day level, the whole of “Brade Milruff,” as Milwaukee’s fifth starter, could be a lot greater than the sum of its parts.

As anyone following the Brewers knows, Woodruff and Miley are entirely different pitchers. Woodruff is among Milwaukee’s all-time leaders in strikeouts per nine innings, while Miley has been a guy who has a talent for inducing poor contact. Woodruff brings heat; Miley’s “stuff” isn’t world-beating. And there’s the obvious fact Woodruff is right-handed, and Miley’s a southpaw.

If they were to piggyback, each going twice through the order, opposing hitters would have to make a drastic adjustment mid-game. That alone is an edge for the Crew. But if Pat Murphy is willing to try to get in the head of his counterpart on the other team, they can always leave exactly WHO is starting a mystery… right until the lineup cards are exchanged.

In other words, the opposing manager would have to figure out who is getting the start – because the skillset to handle Woodruff’s pitching is much different than what would best handle Miley’s and vice versa. Or, the Brewers could even use Jared Koenig or another reliever as an “opener” for the Woodruff/Miley combo. The possibilities with this are not quite endless, but they do get the mind going.

Milwaukee is in a small market and must innovate to remain competitive with teams in larger markets. In 2025, having “Brade Milruff” as the fifth starter could be just the ticket to making the postseason again.

View full article

[Michael Trzinski]

Interesting, but why not? Could work...

[Brian]

Just how it was last year then, don't even know how many pitchers we went threw last season but it had to be close to 40 from start to finish.