It was easy to assume the worst for Brandon Woodruff when the veteran Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher left his April 30 start with a shoulder injury.

Woodruff, who missed all of 2024 and significant time the year before and after while recovering from shoulder surgery, came out of his start against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second inning. It was obvious that something was wrong, as his fastball velocity was down seven mph on average from his yearly standard.

After traveling to see specialist Keith Meister, who performed Woodruff's 2023 surgery, the concern level seemed to drop quite a bit.…