Brandon Woodruff Was Dealing on a Different Level for Brewers in Wild Card Game
By Chris Pyo
When playoff baseball comes around, some players become different animals.
The thought of winning a World Series will captivate players like nothing else. After all, that's the ultimate goal for any ballplayer. And apparently, that thought motivated Brandon Woodruff enough for him to pitch on a completely different level tonight.
Brandon Woodruff in regular season: 11 pitches with a 99.0+ mph velocity TOTAL -- his most in any start was 6, on 7/21
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 2, 2019
Brandon Woodruff so far tonight: 10 pitches with a 99.0+ mph velocity (in 4 IP)
Woodruff, who started the NL Wild Card game for the Brewers tonight, had only thrown 11 pitches all season that reached over 99 MPH on the radar gun.
Tonight, in only four innings of work, he threw 10 pitches over 99 MPH. That's incredible. It takes a lot of work to throw a ball even 1-2 MPH faster than normal, and Woodruff's been doing that as if he could go all night.
Brandon Woodruff. ?? pic.twitter.com/hf6g4CFdC0
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 2, 2019
It's especially encouraging considering Woodruff had only recently returned from an IL stint. To see him throwing with such precision and velocity on the biggest stage of the year will have Brewers fans amped.
With the entire season on the line, Woodruff knew he had to elevate his pitching and set the tone for the Wild Card game. He out-dealt Max Scherzer and turned in an overall excellent outing before being relieved by Brent Suter.