The Milwaukee Brewers have been cautious about the workload for ace Brandon Woodruff, but the right-hander should be full go when he faces the host Chicago Cubs in one game of a day-night doubleheader on Tuesday.
The Brewers and Cubs were scheduled to play a doubleheader on Monday to make up for a game that was rained out on June 18, but the second game was also rained out after Milwaukee won the opener 7-0. The latest rainout will be made up as part of the Tuesday twin bill.
The lone result on Monday was Milwaukee’s 15th win in 16 games. Chicago had a modest two-game winning streak end.
“The Brewers have played brilliantly,” said Cubs manager Craig Counsell, whose second-place team is nine games behind Milwaukee in the National League Central. “We don’t get a lot to say about that. And just credit to them — they’ve done a good job. It’s made our position in the division kind of unfortunate, as you compare it to the other divisions, right? But, I think we’ve got a very good baseball team here. And we know that.”
Woodruff, who missed all of last year and the first half of this season following shoulder surgery, was scheduled to take the mound in the second game of the Monday doubleheader. He then was listed as the starter for Game 2 on Tuesday, but MLB.com reported that the Brewers might move him to Game 1.
The 32-year-old veteran is 4-0 with a 2.06 ERA in seven starts since his return, and the Brewers have won all seven of those outings. He will have five days of rest after starting on four days’ rest in his most recent outing.
Woodruff threw four shutout innings in Milwaukee’s 12-5 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, but he didn’t last long enough to end a victory. He was pulled after 65 pitches.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy said afterward that the team was monitoring Woodruff extra closely because it was his first time starting on four days’ rest.
“We knew this was a short start for Woody,” Murphy said.
Woodruff said it was an adjustment going without a fifth day of rest, but he was prepared for it.
“Body-wise, I was fine,” he said. “All of this is new territory for me, having gone two years essentially and now getting a good load under me. These are necessary games for me to really learn about myself and how I can push it when I need to push it with the velo and just how the body’s responding. I felt fine, just one of those days where I was kind of monitoring everything.”
Woodruff has made 18 appearances against the Cubs in his career, including 16 starts, going 2-2 with a 3.13 ERA in those games.
Milwaukee is expected to recall Chad Patrick from Triple-A Nashville to start whichever game of the doubleheader Woodruff doesn’t start.
Patrick (3-7, 3.52 ERA) last pitched for the Brewers on July 5, when he allowed two runs and four hits in five innings in a no-decision against the Miami Marlins. Since then, he went 1-3 with a 4.68 ERA in six Triple-A outings.
The rookie right-hander took a road loss against the Cubs on June 17. He gave up four runs and six hits in five innings during a 5-3 defeat.
The Cubs are expected to start left-hander Matthew Boyd in the first game on Tuesday.
Boyd (11-6, 2.46 ERA) is 0-3 in his past four starts, but he pitched poorly in only one of those outings, a July 28 start against the Brewers when he surrendered five runs and six hits in five innings en route to an 8-4 loss.
Boyd is 1-2 with a 9.68 ERA in four career starts against the Brewers.
Chicago plans to activate Jameson Taillon off the 15-day injured list so he can start the second game. The veteran right-hander is returning from a right calf strain.
Taillon (7-6, 4.44 ERA) last pitched for the Cubs on June 29, giving up two runs and five hits in 4 2/3 innings of a 2-0 loss to the Houston Astros.
Taillon has made 20 appearances against the Brewers in his career, including 19 starts, going 5-10 with a 3.43 ERA. This year vs. Milwaukee, he is 1-1 with a 6.30 ERA.
–Field Level Media
