The Milwaukee Brewers are heading to the World Series for the first time in years after completing a clean sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series.
Their 6-4 victory at Dodger Stadium on Thursday night sealed the four-game series and sent Milwaukee into the Fall Classic with home-field advantage.
They await the winner of the American League Championship Series between the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays, with the Guardians currently holding a 2-1 edge.
As the organization turns its attention to the World Series, attention has also returned to right-hander Brandon Woodruff.
The longtime Brewers starter has been limited for much of the 2026 season by right shoulder inflammation. He missed May and most of June before being activated, only to land back on the injured list shortly afterward.
Woodruff’s final appearance of the regular season came on July 4, and he has been unavailable throughout the postseason.
In nine outings this year, the 33-year-old managed 45 1/3 innings with a 2.98 ERA, a 0.84 WHIP, and 47 strikeouts.
Those numbers reflect the effectiveness he has shown when healthy, but the shoulder issue has kept him from building the workload needed for a conventional postseason role.
Across his career, all of it spent with Milwaukee after being selected in the 11th round of the 2014 draft out of Mississippi State, Woodruff has posted a 3.10 ERA and 19.0 bWAR over 790 1/3 innings while earning two All-Star selections.
Recent seasons have been interrupted by injury: he pitched in only 11 games in 2023, sat out all of 2024, and appeared in 12 contests in 2025.
After the clinching win, Woodruff made clear that he still views himself as a candidate for the World Series roster.
“It’s gonna be hard to keep me off that roster,” he told Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We’ll have this conversation especially in the next few days. … I need to get to the point where I can face some live hitters, and now that we’ve got some time here, it’s good. I’ve always believed in myself. It doesn’t matter if I’m throwing one pitch in two months or ten rehab outings. I don’t care. I feel like I can go out there and do it. I hope I get that opportunity.”
With several days before the World Series begins, the Brewers have a short window to evaluate whether Woodruff can progress far enough to face live hitters and contribute in some capacity.
His comments suggest he is pushing for that chance, while the club weighs the risks of activating a pitcher who has thrown so few innings this season.
For a team that has relied on depth and timely performances to reach this stage, any addition of a two-time All-Star arm could shift the matchup dynamics against the eventual American League champion.
