Rehab Stints: Eury Perez & Brandon Woodruff
How do Eury Perez and Brandon Woodruff look in their rehab starts
In this article I will be highlighting a pair of MLB pitchers currently on rehab stints and what has changed since the last time they have pitched in MLB.
Brandon Woodruff
Brandon Woodruff was ready to return earlier in May from his extended absence following shoulder surgery, however an ankle injury put the breaks on his 2025 debut. He has continued to rehab in AAA in the meantime and should be ready to join Milwaukee in June.
Woodruff has been one of my favourite pitchers since he broke out with the Brewers many years ago. His deep arsenal, plus command, and solid stuff allowed him to overpower batters with ease and return stellar results throughout his career. The command and versatility seem to have remained following his shoulder operation, but his stuff has seen a substantial decline. I think it is safe to say that his mid 90s velocity is a thing of the past, and it gets even more concerning once you factor in that his velocity has declined ~2 MPH since his first rehab start.
Woodruff is faring well in AAA with a 2.25 ERA and 19.8 K-BB% across 20.0 IP, but his damage allowed and lack of whiffs are not a positive sign. He deserves to get another shot in the Majors, and I believe his underlying skills should make him an effective backend starter. It’s is not the same Woodruff we are used to seeing, but it will provide the Brewers with desperately needed SP depth.
Eury Perez
Now onto my favourite pitcher in baseball, Eury Perez! It was a dark day when I heard that Perez required Tommy John Surgery and was set to miss the entire the 2024 season. I coped by envisioning his triumphant return to the Marlins rotation a year later and we are getting very close to his 2025 debut. Over the past month Perez has tossed a handful of rehab starts, with his most recent being this past week in AAA.
Let’s start with the good. Perez’ velocity is all the way back! His fastball average 97.6 MPH, which keeps it in line with his 2023 numbers. The shape on his fastball also looks strong. He isn’t generating similar ride on the offering and has maintained its elite spin rate. One notable change to his profile is his reduction in extension. In 2023 he exhibited elite extension, stepping ~7 ft down the mound. In his rehab starts it has hovered around a more pedestrian ~6.5 ft. I am not quite sure of this decision yet; however, it might be a function of altering his arm angle to reduce stress on his elbow. Despite the difference in extension, the pitch carries plus-plus traits and has returned laughable whiff rates in his starts.
Perez recently worked through a “Pitch Deign Session” with the Marlins coaches. I have never attended one of these sessions, but I would assume that they consider the pitcher’s profile and current arsenal and address any issues and make adjustments to better utilize their skillset. Following Perez’s session, he started throwing a sinker and also made a substantial change to his curveball. The sinker isn’t anything too special; it’s a mid 90s fastball with more run and carry compared to his 4-Seamer and should be a dependable weapon against RHH. The curveball is the big change I want to focus on here. In 2023, the offering sat in the low 90s with minimal iVB and slight glove-side movement. My tjStuff+ model graded it out as an average pitch and it returned phenomenal results. In his most recent start he transformed his curveball into a sweeper that exhibited an additional foot of glove-side action and more depth. Pitches like this tend to grade out more favourably in pitch models thanks to their incredible amount of sweep.
Not only does Perez look healthy, he is tinkering with his arsenal between starts and excelling. He has sky-high potential and with guidance from the Marlins pitching development team, he is in the right hands to dominate once he makes his glorious return to MLB.
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