Bad Omen for Brewers Ace, Pulled in 2nd Inning

Alarm bells are going off in Milwaukee, where Brewers ace Brandon Woodruff was forced out of his start on Thursday in just the second inning as his velocity had dipped significantly.

Brandon Woodruff was pulled in the second inning of his start today.

His fastball velocity was in the mid-80s after being in the low-90s in his previous outings this year pic.twitter.com/WINt00WHZa
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 30, 2026

Woodruff's fastball velo was in the mid-80 mph range, well down from the low-90s he was hitting regularly before this outing.

Brandon Woodruff's fastball velo in the first inning today is a huge, 10-alarm red flag https://t.co/0YbAiEu8Y3 pic.twitter.com/yZ6cZaJIMY
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) April 30, 2026

“He wasn’t himself,” manager Pat Murphy told dugout reporter Sophia Minnaert on the Brewers TV telecast. “He felt kind of dead. He said he didn’t feel any pain, just that nothing was coming out. We’ve seen a little bit of this, but never at this level where he can’t get the ball over 85 miles an hour."

The Brewers are going to give Brandon Woodruff some time off, Pat Murphy said. Unsure of an IL move or not yet. Woodruff will undergo testing and imaging, but says he didn’t feel injured during the outing.
— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) April 30, 2026

Murphy added that the two-time All-Star is going to get "some time off" as a precautionary move.

Woodruff, who came back strong last season after a year off due to shoulder surgery with a 3.20 ERA and 0.91 WHIP, was off to another nice start to the 2026 campaign, with a 3.77 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP and a 23:6 strikeout to walk ratio in 28 innings.

But his fastball velocity had never fully recovered since the surgery. He used to sit in the 90th percentile range in the majors in average fastball velo, but that was down to the 28th percentile last year and the 22nd percentile this season.

It's expected that the Brewers will call up their top pitching prospect Logan Henderson to replace Woodruff in the interim. Henderson has a 1.02 ERA at AAA this season in five appearances while striking out 13.2 batters per nine.