This story was excerpted from Adam McCalvy's Brewers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
ST. LOUIS -- Would it surprise you to hear that the tie that binds Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff and Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw the closest has nothing to do with a home run?
Kershaw, the longtime Dodgers ace who this week announced his intent to retire at the end of the 2025 season, and Woodruff, the longest-tenured Brewers player, famously squared off in Game 1 of the 2018 National League Championship Series. Woodruff connected for a home run that just about blew the roof off Miller Park. Seven years later, he still doesn’t remember running around the bases. When we ranked the top moments at Miller Park when the stadium changed to American Family Field in 2021, Woodruff’s homer off Kershaw checked in at No. 4.
But when you ask Woodruff about the future Hall of Famer’s decision to call it a career, it’s not the thing he wants you to know about their connection.
“It’s going through essentially what we went through at the same time, having the same surgery,” said Woodruff, who underwent a major shoulder reconstruction in October 2023 just a couple of weeks before Kershaw. “Just getting advice from him on what he was going through, what I was going through. I took more time with mine on the front end, but seeing him come back and just knowing that if he can do it at a later stage of his career, I can do it and still be effective.
“He gave me a lot of inspiration. I’ve told him every time we played them -- both times this year -- I’ve told him I appreciate him being very open to me and nice to me because he doesn’t have to do that. In that sense, he’s helped me a ton in that way. I don’t know if he really knows that or not, but I’ve let him know.”
Kershaw was able to make it back by late July of last year but suffered a toe injury in late August and missed the Dodgers’ run to the World Series. Woodruff’s comeback took longer, but he’s been worth the wait, going 7-2 with a 3.20 ERA in his first 12 Brewers starts coming off a multi-year comeback.
He said the inspiration came from both watching Kershaw from afar and exchanging messages directly.
“It’s a long, tedious process, but [Kershaw encouraged Woodruff] to let things happen on their own and not try to force stuff,” Woodruff said. “Gosh, when he’s done it for so long and been through his share of injuries, you take that advice to heart.”
Of course, there’s a chance the two could meet again in this year’s postseason, if the pieces fall into place just right. Woodruff noted he wouldn’t get to swing a bat, but still, “it would be an incredible series.”
And Kershaw, Woodruff says, joining a chorus of peers from across baseball, has had an incredible career.
“There’s very few guys in the Major Leagues that it seems like no matter what stuff they have, they can just get dudes out at a high level,’ Woodruff said. “When you play 18 years for one team and accomplish all that he’s accomplished, it’s extremely difficult. For guys like that who are Hall of Famers, it’s like, ‘How do they do it?’ You know what I mean? It’s a super tough thing to do year in and year out. Gosh, for 10-12 years he was the best in the game. To do it and be consistent and do it for that long is extremely hard. It’s kind of crazy.”