Brewers add Brandon Woodruff to the World Series roster before Game 1

The Milwaukee Brewers put right-hander Brandon Woodruff on their World Series roster Friday, ahead of Game 1 against the Tampa Bay Rays at American Family Field. Woodruff hasn't pitched in a game since July 4, when he left a start against Arizona with what was later diagnosed as an inflamed right shoulder.

Woodruff takes the spot of right-hander Chad Patrick from the NLCS roster, so Milwaukee still carries 13 pitchers and 13 position players, according to ESPN. The Rays kept their ALCS split of 12 pitchers and 14 hitters. Their one change is left-handed reliever Garrett Cleavinger in for right-hander Brody Hopkins.

In July this looked like the end of his year. Soon after he got hurt, Woodruff said he would have his second surgery in four years, which almost certainly would have ended his season. Imaging before the procedure showed enough healing that he was cleared to throw instead, and a two-month rehab followed. ESPN reported that his fastball, down to 87 mph on July 4, sat at 92 to 93 mph in a simulated game earlier this week.

"I care about one thing, and that's winning," Woodruff said Thursday, before he knew whether he had made it. "I know it's not an easy decision. Everything had to work out perfectly just to even have a shot at getting to this point."

General manager Matt Arnold called him "one of the most successful, dominant big-game pitchers I've ever been around." Arnold also mentioned "some rule constraints that we're having to work through." A team can only replace a player during a postseason series because of a new injury, so a flare-up in the same shoulder could leave the Brewers a man short.

Woodruff, 33, is the longest-tenured Brewer. He joined the club in 2017, is a two-time All-Star and finished fifth in the 2021 NL Cy Young vote. He had a 2.98 ERA in nine starts before the injury.

Milwaukee won a franchise-record 103 regular-season games and is 7-1 this postseason. Jacob Misiorowski starts Game 1, and he called his teammate "an awesome human being" who is "in there every day working."

The open question is his role. ESPN's report doesn't say whether Woodruff lines up as a starter or a reliever, so the next tell is who the Brewers name for Games 2 and 3.