Brewers Place Woodruff on IL, Memorial Day Moves

Today was supposed to be highlighted by the promotion of pitching prospect Ethan Small. Set to make his Major League debut, Small looked to be a strong option at the back end of the starting rotation. While it’s Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes that highlight a strong group, Small could help to mitigate the blow felt by losing Peralta. Instead, a damper is felt when losing Woodruff as well.

Placed on the injured list with what’s being called a right ankle sprain, Woodruff’s timeline is backdated to May 28. The hope would be that Milwaukee’s star only misses the minimum amount of time, but that will be no less than two turns through the rotation. For a club that is so heavily reliant on the strength of their pitchers, they’ve been dealt multiple significant blows in a short span.

Taking Woodruff’s spot on the active roster is right-hander Peter Strzelecki from Triple-A. When he gets into a game for Milwaukee, Strzelecki will be making his Major League debut. The 27-year-old has been in Milwaukee’s organization since 2018 and has racked up 156 2/3 innings as a reliever. At Triple-A Nashville this season, Strzelecki owns a 3.86 ERA and a 14.3 K/9 across 16 1/3 innings.

In a bit of good news, the Brewers sent Willy Adames out to Triple-A Nashville on a rehab stint. Adames has a .766 OPS this season for Milwaukee and his 114 OPS+ could help to provide depth for a lineup trying to stay atop the NL Central.