2026 Injury Updates - Answering Your Questions When Possible (ARobsBrewCrew Thread)

[ARobsBrewCrew]

RHP Jason Woodward, coming back from his 2nd Tommy John surgery, is set for a normal spring and expecting to be ready for MiLB Opening Day.  The goal for him is the rotation, but there is a strong chance he moves to the bullpen with his injury history.  It’s likely that he will start out with the Timber Rattlers in 2026.

[ARobsBrewCrew]

RHP Quinton Low is also fully healthy entering 2026 after back-to-back seasons wiped out with injuries.  Unfortunately, from a pure entertainment perspective, his days as a two-way player are over which is not too surprising all things considered.  Low has, in rehab, and will continue to focus solely on pitching going forward and, given injury history as well as some control concerns, is likely to work as a reliever, at least for the time being.

[Joseph Zarr]

13 hours ago, ARobsBrewCrew said:

RHP Jason Woodward, coming back from his 2nd Tommy John surgery, is set for a normal spring and expecting to be ready for MiLB Opening Day.  The goal for him is the rotation, but there is a strong chance he moves to the bullpen with his injury history.  It’s likely that he will start out with the Timber Rattlers in 2026.

A healthy Jason Woodward in any pitching role is a dominant pitcher. I absolutely can not wait!

[ARobsBrewCrew]

RHP Cole Phillips, MiLB Rule 5 pick from the Mariners, is progressing well from his most recent procedure (July 2025 flexor tendon surgery) and building up in his rehab program.  The 2022 2nd rounder is targeting April for his return to the mound and the All-Star break, maybe a little before, for his first game action which will be his professional debut.

[ARobsBrewCrew]

LHP Joey Broughton was originally scheduled to return to games in mid-August last year, but his rehab ended up progressing just a little slower than anticipated which did not allow him to make his pro debut by the end of the season.  After a healthy offseason, the southpaw expects to be ready for the start of the 2026 season and should join the Warbirds rotation at Single-A.

[Joseph Zarr]

On 3/1/2026 at 11:04 AM, ARobsBrewCrew said:

LHP Joey Broughton was originally scheduled to return to games in mid-August last year, but his rehab ended up progressing just a little slower than anticipated which did not allow him to make his pro debut by the end of the season.  After a healthy offseason, the southpaw expects to be ready for the start of the 2026 season and should join the Warbirds rotation at Single-A.

[Jim Goulart]

 

[Ro Mueller]

I feel greedy asking this, but are there any updates on other recovering pitchers – e.g. JB Bukauskas, Thomas Pannone, Will Rudy, Russell Smith, Cameron Wagoner, Enniel Cortez, Eric Prado?

[ARobsBrewCrew]

23 minutes ago, Ro Mueller said:

I feel greedy asking this, but are there any updates on other recovering pitchers – e.g. JB Bukauskas, Thomas Pannone, Will Rudy, Russell Smith, Cameron Wagoner, Enniel Cortez, Eric Prado?

Can never hurt to ask!  Rudy, Wagoner, Cortez, and Prado are all expected to be ready for the start of the 2026 season.  I’ll try to see what I can find out about the statuses of Bukauskas, Pannone, and Smith!

[Jim Goulart]

18-year-old RHP 2025 4th rounder Josh Flores, yet to debut, indicates he was heading out to Chicago for surgery in a TSA line conversation with postgame show host Tim Allen - story begins around the 54:00 - 55:00 minute mark.

Via Tim Allen's "Hot Stove Weekly" on 105.7 The Fan: Latest Episode

***

Any indication on the nature of the surgery, ARobsBrewCrew?

[ARobsBrewCrew]

10 minutes ago, Jim Goulart said:

18-year-old RHP 2025 4th rounder Josh Flores, yet to debut, indicates he was heading out to Chicago for surgery in a TSA line conversation with postgame show host Tim Allen - story begins around the 54:00 - 55:00 minute mark.

Via Tim Allen's "Hot Stove Weekly" on 105.7 The Fan: Latest Episode

***

Any indication on the nature of the surgery, ARobsBrewCrew?

I’m sad to share that Flores underwent Tommy John surgery on March 12 and will be out for the entire 2026 season.  The right-hander will hope to return sometime late in the first half of ‘27.

[snoogans8056]

Not necessarily for ARob, but how do these yearlong injuries work in regards to service time?

Does it start if they haven’t thrown a competitive inning? Or are they on the same Rule 5 timeline?

[CheeseheadInQC]

28 minutes ago, snoogans8056 said:

Not necessarily for ARob, but how do these yearlong injuries work in regards to service time?

Does it start if they haven’t thrown a competitive inning? Or are they on the same Rule 5 timeline?

Unless something has changed, I believe Rule 5 eligibility is determined strictly by signing date. I think it at least used to be that the cutoff was the end of the season for the level you were assigned to, but I am not sure if they changed that when they shifted the ACL season.

[Spencer Michaelis]

27 minutes ago, snoogans8056 said:

Not necessarily for ARob, but how do these yearlong injuries work in regards to service time?

Does it start if they haven’t thrown a competitive inning? Or are they on the same Rule 5 timeline?

Rule 5 timeline starts from when they're drafted/signed. That's why Cole Phillips was able to be selected by the Brewers in the MiLB Rule 5 despite having never pitched in a pro game to this point.

[Jim Goulart]

 

[Joseph Zarr]

Ahhh, yes. It's our annual month to opening day lead-up trickle in of devastating injury news. May these young men heal up and tap into more resolve to come back stronger and more mentally tough. Brutal. Every season I nervously enter the month of March. Man. I just feel for the players and their families.

[CheeseheadInQC]

41 minutes ago, Joseph Zarr said:

Ahhh, yes. It's our annual month to opening day lead-up trickle in of devastating injury news. May these young men heal up and tap into more resolve to come back stronger and more mentally tough. Brutal. Every season I nervously enter the month of March. Man. I just feel for the players and their families.

Very much this. We’ve also reached the point where from past experience I am pretty much expecting the worst from any full season types who haven’t had their names appear on the minor league lineups or guys brought over to big league camp (glad to cross Carra and a couple others off that list today).

[ARobsBrewCrew]

On 3/19/2026 at 3:11 AM, Jim Goulart said:

 

Happy to report it is NOT believed to be anything too serious.  Dubanewicz hopes to be ready close to the start of the season!  

[biedergb]

Did I miss any updates on Cornell, Tobias and Timmerman here?

[ARobsBrewCrew]

1 hour ago, biedergb said:

Did I miss any updates on Cornell, Tobias and Timmerman here?

Here’s my update on Corniel from mid-February:

 

“RHP Daniel Corniel only appeared in one game for the Timber Rattlers in 2025 due to injury.  He underwent Tommy John surgery and is expecting to return to game action in early June.”

Tobias was dealing with a flexor strain and ulnar nerve inflammation.  He was expecting to be cleared in April, but had a small flare up and is now hoping for sometime in May.  As for Timmerman, he underwent ulnar nerve surgery last September and has a couple of months still to build up with the hope being a mid-season return to games, likely June or July.

•  

[snoogans8056]

Luke Adams alright? Cant remember the last time I saw his name on any lineups, and missed the Spring Breakout.

[Joseph Zarr]

On 3/24/2026 at 9:41 AM, snoogans8056 said:

Luke Adams alright? Cant remember the last time I saw his name on any lineups, and missed the Spring Breakout.

Well, MLB was calling him 'Jon Adams' all spring as his given name is Jon Luke Adams. It was really strange tho when I first saw it. He is very much a Luke imho.

[biedergb]

4 minutes ago, Joseph Zarr said:

Well, MLB was calling him 'Jon Adams' all spring as his given name is Jon Luke Adams. It was really strange tho when I first saw it. He is very much a Luke imho.

Isn’t that like Corey Hart - wasn’t he Jon Corey Hart or did I make that up - obviously I can look it up but didn’t. If so I’d love Adams to be Hart 2.0

[snoogans8056]

2 hours ago, Joseph Zarr said:

Well, MLB was calling him 'Jon Adams' all spring as his given name is Jon Luke Adams. It was really strange tho when I first saw it. He is very much a Luke imho.

I think that was actually Jordyn Adams who we signed as a AAAA outfielder.

[Joseph Zarr]

6 minutes ago, snoogans8056 said:

I think that was actually Jordyn Adams who we signed as a AAAA outfielder.

Nope. I explicitly, on more than one occasion, clicked on the name within the ESPN Box Scores. It brought me to 21 yo 3B Rookie Jon (Luke) Adams player page.