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Looking back at emotional month for Woodruff

Brewers righty broke out in July 2016 despite family tragedy
Brandon Woodruff was an 11th-round pick out of Mississippi State in 2014. (Ed Gardner/MiLB.com)
July 23, 2020

July 2016 was a terrible month for Brandon Woodruff and his family. The right-handed Brewers prospect had been pitching for Double-A Biloxi for nearly two months when word came on July 15 that his older brother Blake had died from injuries sustained in an ATV accident. The younger Woodruff went

July 2016 was a terrible month for Brandon Woodruff and his family.

The right-handed Brewers prospect had been pitching for Double-A Biloxi for nearly two months when word came on July 15 that his older brother Blake had died from injuries sustained in an ATV accident.

The younger Woodruff went on the inactive list, attended his brother's funeral and returned to the mound six days later to fire six scoreless innings at Pensacola and hit his first career homer in the Shuckers' 1-0 victory.

The performance not only garnered Woodruff his second straight Southern League Pitcher of the Week award, but earned the respect of fans, teammates and foes alike. Pensacola's Rookie Davis praised Woodruff on Twitter following the game:

Five days later, Woodruff threw seven more scoreless innings against Mobile to finish the month of July having pitched 30 2/3 frames and allowing one earned run for a 0.29 ERA. The Mississippi State product fanned 42, walked five and held opponents to a .157 average on the way to being named Southern League Player of the Month. Here's a look at some of the highlights:

More from Brandon Woodruff’s POM stretch:
- Woodruff racks up K's, zeros for Shuckers
- Woodruff delivers emotional gem for Biloxi
- Woodruff wins Pitcher of the Week again
- Shuckers' Woodruff keeps putting up zeros

Woodruff suffered a pair of rough outings in August but finished the second half of the 2016 season with a 2.32 ERA. After starting the 2017 campaign with Triple-A Colorado Springs, he made his Major League debut with 6 1/3 scoreless innings in Tampa Bay on Aug. 4.

In 2019 Woodruff earned a National League All-Star nod, ultimately going 11-3 with a 3.62 ERA in 22 starts for the Brewers. And tomorrow he's slated to take the ball as Milwaukee's Opening Day starter at Wrigley Field when the truncated 2020 season gets underway.

John Parker is an editor for MiLB.com.