Brandon Woodruff

BIOGRAPHY

Brandon Kyle Woodruff was born on February 10, 1993, in Tupelo, Mississippi. He is a pitcher in the MLB.

Woodruff attended Wheeler High School in Wheeler, Mississippi and was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the fifth round of the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft out of high school. He did not sign with the Rangers and attended Mississippi State University to play college baseball. 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 his first start returning from a family incident, 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.

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 4th. 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.

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 also became the only pitcher in baseball postseason history to hit a home run lefty on lefty.

In 2019, Woodruff pitched in 22 games, registering an 11-3 record and a 3.62 ERA with 143 strikeouts in 121+2⁄3 innings pitched for the Brewers. He was also named to the 2019 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. In 2020, Woodruff pitched to a 3-5 record and a 3.05 ERA with 91 strikeouts in 73+2⁄3 innings of work in a league-leading 13 starts.

On January 13, 2023, Woodruff signed a one-year, $10.8 million contract with the Brewers, avoiding salary arbitration.

In his free time, Brandon Woodruff is an avid outdoorsman.