Mending Woodruff on verge of game action

PHOENIX -- Brandon Woodruff is ready to advance to the next step in his comeback from shoulder surgery: Pitching against another team.

Following a fourth live batting practice session on Wednesday and an encouraging visit with his surgeon on Thursday, Woodruff said on Friday morning that he expects his next outing to be in a Minor League Spring Training game next week. The Minor League slate opens Tuesday.

Woodruff’s last mound session spanned 25 pitches and two simulated innings, with the bonus that his wife, Jonie, and daughter, Kyler, got to see him work. Just as encouraging was Woodruff’s visit the following day with Dr. Keith Meister, the Dallas-based surgeon who performed his shoulder repair in October 2023.

“They do so many surgeries on guys who are out here [in Arizona] that they basically come out for a couple of days,” Woodruff said. “Guys go check in, and you walk in there and see a lot of big leaguers. It’s kind of crazy.

“I had a good checkup. Same old, same old. I’m progressing, I’m recovering, and he said, ‘You’ve got to progress to games. That first ‘live,’ there’s adrenaline, but then you lose that when you go through it so many times. That first one I hit 92 [mph], and I’ve stayed stagnant with velo. I’ve not hit a wall but I’ve leveled out there. Now I need to get in a game.’”

If his Minor League games goes as planned, Woodruff surmised that the next step could be a Major League outing in the Cactus League. That would begin a ramp-up to a 30-day Minor League rehabilitation assignment.

But that’s tentative. Woodruff has learned not to look too far ahead.

“I’m right on track,” he said.

Good news for Ashby
It’s always a good thing when a second opinion is more promising than the first. That’s been the case for left-hander Aaron Ashby, who was feared to have suffered a Grade 2 strain of his right oblique during the second inning of his start Monday.

Subsequent testing, however, yielded a lesser diagnosis. Ashby will be shut down from throwing for at least two weeks, and he expects to resume building up to pitch as a starter.

“I’m able to cough, sneeze. All the things that people say should hurt, don’t,” he said. “So we’re going to take that as good news.”

Ashby said he regularly feels tightness in his right oblique and didn’t think much of it during his first inning of work Monday against the Reds. When the sensation worsened during his second inning, he opted for caution.

“I feel like I pulled the trigger early enough on coming out of the game,” Ashby said. “I never felt it was all that bad. Talking to guys who have had Grade 2s, they said they couldn’t move the next day, couldn’t get out of the car by themselves, couldn’t get off a plane. I felt like I could maybe throw a baseball right now. All things considered, I think we’re in a good spot.”

Pannone shut down
The Brewers’ starting pitching depth took an additional hit with news that left-hander Thomas Pannone suffered a torn flexor tendon during his start Sunday against Cleveland. Brewers doctors are not advising surgery, but Pannone will be shut down from throwing for at least one month.

A non-roster invitee to camp, Pannone was not expected to make the Opening Day roster but he did have a chance to help at the Major League level at some point during the season after a successful second half last year with the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate.