Brandon Woodruff Makes World Series Roster, Replaces Chad Patrick (Full Roster Enclosed)

[Jim French Stepstool]

17 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

So glad for Woody! 

But I'm surprised for Patrick.  I knew it would be May, Harrison or Patrick, but I thought Patrick was the best option of the three.  There are fewer LHB on Tampa, so Harrison seems more redundant.  May wasn't lights out so far...

My guess is that Patrick ended the year quasi injured/burned out?  He certainly was losing it at the end of the year.  I wonder if this was just a "save your arm" move. 

But 2025 Playoff Patrick was certainly a great asset. 

Patrick might've indeed hit a wall. And maybe Harrison just came off a terrific week of work & has things figured out. Like I said, I'd have loved to see the workouts this past week.

Re the L/R thing, yeah that's interesting. I wouldn't have believed it for a minute if I was told that both Patrick & Anderson would be sitting it out.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

I'm very happy for Woody.  I'm pissed that May is on the roster.  The guy has done nothing to deserve it and has been a hot mess every time he pitches.

That was the move.  I hope I never have to see May pitch again.  The guy just is not a MLB quality player and it stings beyond belief that we gave up 2 top 100 prospects for a guy with a negative WAR...

But heck, its the world series, I'm going to let it go...  LFG!!!!

 

[Jim French Stepstool]

6 minutes ago, Randall Buchek said:

Is this a bribe to sign with the Brewers next year if he is healthy?  He does deserve the chance to pitch in the WS.  He has been with the team the longest.  Go Woodruff.

My gut feeling is that they don't need to bribe him. From everything I've heard about him & seen on interviews, Woodruff seems to love everything about playing here, from the fans to the front office & his teammates right down to comfort level with the Wisconsin lifestyle. If there's anything left in the tank after '26 I believe he'll always prioritize staying here as long as the team is serious about wanting him.

His being added is storybook stuff...........because he earned it.

[Jim French Stepstool]

5 minutes ago, TwinsBrewersWorldSeries said:

I'm very happy for Woody.  I'm pissed that May is on the roster.  The guy has done nothing to deserve it and has been a hot mess every time he pitches.

That was the move.  I hope I never have to see May pitch again.  The guy just is not a MLB quality player and it stings beyond belief that we gave up 2 top 100 prospects for a guy with a negative WAR...

But heck, its the world series, I'm going to let it go...  LFG!!!!

 

Let's not forget Romero was also included in the deal & he's been very effective in the postseason.

But yes, that was an awfully high price.

[BCF]

May had one bad pitch in LA and it wasn’t even a strike. Just bad location to a LHH 

[BrewerFan]

13 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Let's not forget Romero was also included in the deal & he's been very effective in the postseason.

But yes, that was an awfully high price.

We also didn't give up two top 100 prospects, we gave up one. Ragsdale was a nice prospect, but I don't think you're going to look at that and be that upset by it. If he hits, tip your hat to him. 

Frias is the guy I'm worried could be a Yordan type hitter(not really, but a really good hitter and a guy who hits for power). 

That said, I've seen the IGTs, but I think the concerns with May are... a bit harsh. He gave up the HR to Ohtani which... it's still Ohtani. And then he also had a clean inning before that vs the LAD. 
And then he gave up 2ER is 3IP vs SD.

Those are two really good offenses. 

Tampa struggles with that FB up. The thing that I'd actually hoped May would go away from and go back to that sinker, but they were the worst team in MLB vs big velo and they're worse vs it at the Trop. So May gives you 2-3 innings in GM4. I don't think the team actually considered taking May off. 


JoJo Romero has just been good. Not 4th starter, no qualifier needed, he's been a really good arm out of the pen and played a huge role in keeping us in Gm4 so we didn't have to say 'screw it, throwing the B pen today, gear up for Gm4.' 

I think I articulated my opinion on the trade as a whole before it happened(literally said I hope they don't trade a guy like Frias for a rental when the Soriano trade thread closed)... but it's over, so lets just hope the trade looks good in this game... and May is also pitching with a 3-0 series lead! 

[RWeeksFan23]

5 hours ago, owbc said:

After I saw Woody throwing 90-92 I knew he was gonna make it. 

This is about experience and results. He has a career 1.90 FIP in 28.1 postseason innings. He was pitching at a high level earlier this season. 

Do I dream about him being on the mound for the final out? Absolutely. I don't know if it will happen but the crowd is going to go absolutely wild if he makes an appearance. 

weren't you the one that said you give it a 5% chance he makes the roster?

[RWeeksFan23]

4 hours ago, tmwiese55 said:

I've been expecting him on and my guess is the plan is for him to start game 4 and hope for 3-4 innings.   I'm mostly surprised they took Patrick out instead of Harrison.  You don't' need a zillion lefties vs TB like you did LA.  And while I get the tough to trust Patrick now its definitely harder to trust Harrison in any big situation.  Patrick at least has been used a normal reliver all year and is used to it and was their 3rd best guy for a good chunk of the year.   

They must trust that they have Harrison fixed but man I don't know how you'd feel comfortable putting him out there in 1 run game in a role he's never done before.   All this time off could've been what Patrick needed to recharge after the struggles at the end

Harrison's four-seam fastball is needed against the Rays.

[BrewerFan]

57 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

So glad for Woody! 

But I'm surprised for Patrick.  I knew it would be May, Harrison or Patrick, but I thought Patrick was the best option of the three.  There are fewer LHB on Tampa, so Harrison seems more redundant.  May wasn't lights out so far...

My guess is that Patrick ended the year quasi injured/burned out?  He certainly was losing it at the end of the year.  I wonder if this was just a "save your arm" move. 

But 2025 Playoff Patrick was certainly a great asset. 

They actually start 5 lefties plus Walls who is much better vs righties(or LESS bad vs righties). 

I don't know how you make this call other than you have confidence that Harrison's stuff was down because he was a bit tired and it was kinda coming back at the end of the year. His FB was up a few MPH from the middle of the year. 

I also liked Patrick as well. I thought he did a good job this year of kinda meshing his pitching style. His FIP was up, but he was trying to induce more contact, he did that, got more GBs, fewer Ks. More BBs though, but overall... I thought he was solid. 

They must really be confident in Woodruff. I argued they shouldn't do this... but once they decide, I trust them. They're generally right and if Woody can give you 2 clean innings to start Gm4, it's probably worth it.

[BCF]

 

[MrTPlush]

Why do we assume there is any trust in Harrison? I’m pretty sure he is on the roster for two purposes:

1) Pitch till his arms falls off if a game goes 12+ innings.

2) Pitch till his arms falls off if a game is a blowout.

Patrick hasn’t thrown over 50 pitches since mid-June. He really isn’t an option for that roll.

[RWeeksFan23]

6 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

Why do we assume there is any trust in Harrison? I’m pretty sure he is on the roster for two purposes:

1) Pitch till his arms falls off if a game goes 12+ innings.

2) Pitch till his arms falls off if a game is a blowout.

Patrick hasn’t thrown over 50 pitches since mid-June. He really isn’t an option for that roll.

3) his four-seam fastball will play better against the Rays offense than a lot of our sinkerballers.

[baseball101]

6 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

In the end I think this is the right move. I could see myself pondering ‘what if Woodruff had been on the roster instead of Patrick’ for many years…I can’t say I would ever ponder the same about Patrick. Go big or go home. 
 

Congrats to Woodruff, he earned it. Here is to hoping it pays off.

You think Woodruff earned it? He must have had the greatest bullpen sessions ever the last two weeks.

[Turning2]

6 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Got to feel for Patrick, who pitched well this year overall. Has to be brutal being left off even if he was going to be the last name called, and watching everyone celebrate as you're replaced by a guy who has hardly been able to stay on the field. I get that it's a Kodak moment but I feel awful for the guy.

Same. That's an 11th hour kick to the groin. If Woody is good enough to go for the WS, he would likely have been just as good to go in the previous 2 series. If he is only used as an opener, and not expected to give them 4-5 solid, it seems like a token move. Regardless, I'll trust their decision. Wouldn't blame Patrick for feeling a bit of resentment though.

[Turning2]

6 hours ago, TURBO said:

If Woodruff is on the roster, he will pitch. 

I think it's crazy for anyone to think we'd roster him and have him on the bench the entire series. 

If he's on the roster, he will pitch, it's just a matter of when they find the right time for him to do so.

This isn't the same thing as Patrick being on the roster for the Dodger series and not throwing a pitch.  Woody will pitch, book it!

It's a no doubter. I don't care how the rationale to put him on is sliced and diced, there is at least some sliver of it owing to sentiment. Be it for the "fairytale story". Be it for spurring the clubhouse like some kind of "win one for the gipper" move. Or be it simply to throw the fans a warm and fuzzy bone, there is more being taken into account that just his readiness. And because of that, he will at least make an appearance. I'll be super shocked if not. 

[adambr2]

1 hour ago, BCF said:

May had one bad pitch in LA and it wasn’t even a strike. Just bad location to a LHH 

It was a strike, it was terribly located literally right in Ohtani’s wheelhouse, and it was not a guy you can make that kind of mistake to and hope to get away with it. 

It is what it is is, I hope he pitches well, I really do, but he was equally untrustworthy in all of the regular season, NLDS, and NLCS, and no matter what he does, short of hanging pitches right down broadway, the only consistent thing about May has been that we always find a way to make excuses for him. 

[owbc]

1 hour ago, RWeeksFan23 said:

weren't you the one that said you give it a 5% chance he makes the roster?

Yep. I thought there was no way, I figured he was throwing 87 in that bullpen. 

When we inquired with MLB about his roster eligibility I was like "ok it's higher than 5% but probably still low". 

When I saw that video of him facing live hitters and the report that he was in the low 90s, I knew it was happening. I'm sure most folks who saw that video had their mental odds bumped up after that. 

[Bulldogboy]

Surreal