12. Brandon Woodruff
The Brewers enter the 2019 Wild Card Game facing a steep disadvantage when it comes to the starting pitching matchup. Granted, Max Scherzer versus almost anyone else in the National League is a mismatch, but the Brewers really don’t have anyone to send out that is even in Scherzer’s neighborhood. Milwaukee has two viable options to work with in their play-in game — Brandon Woodruff and Zach Davies.
Both Davies and Woodruff have had good seasons in 2019, but Woodruff is the right choice to try and take down the Nationals powerful lineup. He has the type of swing-and-miss stuff needed to excel in the postseason against a deep offense. Davies is a finesse pitcher who struck out only 5.7 per-nine.
At 26, Woodruff has yet to put together a totally injury-free season in the big leagues. He made only four starts last year and threw 42.1 total innings while also pitching in relief. The big right-hander missed most of the second half this year and made only 22 starts. Woodruff returned at the end of September with two dominant appearances.
Woodruff struck out seven in four innings after returning from his oblique injury. It’s been almost two months since he made a full start, but Craig Counsell was aggressive with his roster in the tiebreaker last season, so no reason to expect he won’t manage the same way this year in a one-game playoff. Woodruff should be good for at least four strong innings, and in a short burst, he is capable of matching Scherzer.