Brewers place Woodruff on IL with lat strain

The Milwaukee Brewers placed right-hander Brandon Woodruff on the 15-day injured list with a right lat strain, the team announced Sunday.

Left-hander Robert Gasser was recalled from Triple-A Nashville in a corresponding move and will start Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Woodruff, who missed all of the 2024 season following shoulder surgery, sustained the lat injury during a bullpen session Saturday. He's visiting doctors in St. Louis on Sunday to determine the full extent of his injury, according to Brian Murphy of MLB.com.

His IL stint is retroactive to Sept. 18. While this means he won't pitch again in the regular season, he would be eligible to return for the NLDS if he recovers quickly. However, his status for the postseason remains unclear at this time.

The 32-year-old is remaining optimistic about his overall status, and believes he'll be able to return at some point. Manager Pat Murphy added that there doesn't appear to be any damage to Woodruff's shoulder, according to Jeff Latzke of The Associated Press.

"This is a side effect of getting back into doing this at a high level, and that's it. Is this career-ending? No, it's nothing like that," Woodruff said. "It's nothing even compared to the surgery, but it's just one of those things that it'll heal, it'll get better. It's just (bad) timing."

Woodruff had been enjoying a stellar comeback season before the injury, posting a 3.20 ERA, 3.18 FIP, and 0.91 WHIP along with an 11.6 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 over 12 starts since returning in July.