Brandon Kyle Woodruff (born February 10, 1993) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB).

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 Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

. In 2014, his junior season, he went 1-3 with a 6.75 ERA in 37 innings. In 2012, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Harwich Mariners The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Fiel ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. After his junior year he was drafted by the

in the 11th round of the

2014 MLB Draft The 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June ...

. Woodruff made his professional debut that year with the

Helena Brewers The Helena Brewers were a Minor League Baseball team in the Pioneer League located in Helena, Montana, from 1978 to 2018. The team played their home games at Kindrick Legion Field, which was built in 1939. They were affiliated with the Milwauke ...

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 The Brevard County Manatees were a minor league baseball team of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League from 1994 to 2016. They were based in Viera, Florida, and played their home games at Space Coast Stadium. The team left Brevard County afte ...

, 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 The Biloxi Shuckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Biloxi, Mississippi, and are named in reference to the city's oyster industry and seafood heri ...

. 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. Woodruff started the 2017 season playing with the

Colorado Springs Sky Sox The Colorado Springs Sky Sox were a Minor League Baseball team in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The team played in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and was the Triple-A affiliate of the major league Milwaukee Brewers (2015–2018), Colorado Rockie ...

. 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.

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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 In Major League Baseball, the National League Division Series (NLDS) determines which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring e ...

against the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

, 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 The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

, Woodruff hit a home run off of

Clayton Kershaw Clayton Edward Kershaw (born March 19, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) . He has played for the Dodgers for the entirety of his MLB career. A left-handed starting pi ...

. He became the 22nd pitcher and the 3rd relief pitcher in postseason history to accomplish the feat. In 2019, Woodruff pitched in 22 games, registering a 11-3 record and a 3.62 ERA with 143 strikeouts in 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 innings of work in a league-leading 13 starts.

Personal life

Woodruff is married to Jonie Woodruff. They have one daughter together.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodruff, Brandon 1993 births Living people People from Prentiss County, Mississippi Baseball players from Mississippi National League All-Stars Major League Baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers players Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball players Harwich Mariners players Arizona League Brewers players Helena Brewers players Brevard County Manatees players Biloxi Shuckers players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Sportspeople from Tupelo, Mississippi Nashville Sounds players Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players