Brandon Kyle Woodruff (born February 10, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2017 and is a two-time All-Star selection.
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Early life
Woodruff attended Wheeler High School in Wheeler, Mississippi, a census-designated place with a population below 500. He reportedly could pitch 60 mph by age 9 and, by 14, was recorded at an all-star event in Oklahoma throwing 94 mph. As a seventh-grader, he was already playing in high school games. Woodruff's No. 25 jersey is retired by his high school's baseball team.
Career
Woodruff attended Wheeler High School in Wheeler, Mississippi, and was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the fifth round of the 2011 MLB draft out of high school. He did not sign with the Rangers and attended Mississippi State University to play college baseball. In 2014, his junior season, he went 1-3 with a 6.75 ERA in 37 innings. In 2012, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League. After his junior year he was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 11th round of the 2014 MLB draft.
Woodruff made his professional debut that year with the Helena Brewers and spent the whole season there, going 1–2 with a 3.28 ERA in 14 games (eight starts). He pitched 2015 with the Brevard County Manatees, compiling a 4–7 record and 3.45 ERA in 21 games (19 starts), and started 2016 there. In May, he was promoted to the Biloxi Shuckers. In July, his brother died following an ATV accident. In his first start since his brother's death, Woodruff threw six shutout innings allowing one hit with nine strikeouts as well as hitting a home run. Woodruff ended 2016 with a combined 14-9 record and 2.68 ERA in 28 starts between both teams.
Milwaukee Brewers
Woodruff started the 2017 season playing with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. The Brewers promoted Woodruff to the major leagues on June 13. However, he injured himself warming up and was placed on the disabled list. The Brewers recalled Woodruff to make his debut on August 4. He was optioned back to Colorado Springs on August 20 and recalled once again on September 1. In eight starts for Milwaukee, he was 2–3 with a 4.81 ERA, and in 16 starts for Colorado Springs he pitched to a 6-5 record and 4.30 ERA.
MLB.com ranked Woodruff as Milwaukee's third-best prospect going into the 2018 season. He began 2018 with Milwaukee but was optioned to Colorado Springs in early April. During the 2018 MLB regular season, Woodruff pitched in 19 games, starting 4, for 42.1 innings. He had a 3.61 ERA and a WHIP of 1.81.
He opened Game 1 of the NLDS against the Colorado Rockies, pitching three scoreless innings in the Brewers' eventual 3–2 win. In Game 1 of the 2018 National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Woodruff hit a home run off of Clayton Kershaw. He became the 22nd pitcher and the 3rd relief pitcher in postseason history to accomplish the feat. Woodruff pitched in 4 postseason games, pitching 12.1 innings, with a 2.19 ERA, and a 0.81 WHIP, going 1-1 in his first career postseason run.
In 2019, Woodruff became a full time starter, pitching in 22 games with an 11–3 record and a 3.62 ERA with 143 strikeouts in 121+2⁄3 innings. He was named to the 2019 MLB All-Star Game, replacing an injured teammate, reliever Josh Hader. In the exhibition, Woodruff gave up one run, one single, and one walk, getting two outs on a double play. He started the Wild Card Game, pitching four innings with his only blemish a home run hit by Trea Turner. The Brewers lost to the eventual World Series champion Washington Nationals, with Hader taking the loss and a blown save.
In the shortened 60-game season, Woodruff started in 13 games, tied for the most in the National League, going 3–5 with a 3.05 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. He had 91 strikeouts in 73.2 innings, while only walking 18. For the second year in a row, Woodruff started for the Brewers in a Wild Card game, Game 2 of the Wild Card Series, going 4+2⁄3 innings and allowing 3 runs and 5 hits. The Brewers again lost in the Wild Card round to the team that won the World Series, this year the Dodgers.
Personal life
Woodruff is married to Jonie Woodruff. Together they have a daughter and son. Their third child, a son, was born in July 2026.