NL DIVISION SERIES: BREWERS VS BRAVES

October 8, 2021

Brandon Woodruff

American Family Field

Milwaukee Brewers

Pregame 1 Press Conference

Q. Is this the longest you've gone between starts?

BRANDON WOODRUFF: Other than, I would say, being on the injured list at some point, yeah, probably. But it was -- at this time of year, after that St. Louis start, it was just one of those where it was the right time. It was the right time to take a little bit of a breather, try to reset and recharge a little bit and just get ready for a good, long run.

It was nothing to do health-wise. It was just one of those where I tried to get a little bit better of a boost, I guess, from a long year.

Q. Obviously everyone wants to be the guy on day one, but is there something to be said to be able to sit there and watch Corbin throw game one in a playoff series?

BRANDON WOODRUFF: You can learn a lot. Anytime you can sit and watch -- and sometimes we, in some ways, we attack the same way. So you can learn a lot from -- in that way. But just seeing how the hitters will come out and try to attack Corbin, you kind of can get an idea of how they'll approach the next day. So, anytime you can sit there and watch and try to learn you can try to pick up on something for sure.

Q. Got to be fun to watch him go after it, just the way he's been dominating this year?

BRANDON WOODRUFF: For sure. He definitely deserves to go Game 1. And it's one of those, he's had a great year. It's going to be fun. It's going to be a great series. And we'll see how it shakes out.

Q. Can you walk us through the last ten days, how do you stay sharp without pitching and do you have any worry that there's rust in that first inning?

BRANDON WOODRUFF: Once you get to this time of year, for me, I kind of go back to '19 when I had the oblique. And I had, I think, two starts in September and then came back. And I think it was a similar layoff between the last time I pitched to the wild-card game.

So it's one of those things where I haven't been in game action but I've been getting off the mound. I've been facing some live hitters. And you've been doing this for so long that -- and by no means have I mastered anything. But I'm not going to completely forget how to go up there and toe the rubber and get a feel.

But once you get to this time of year it's just about competing and everything else goes out the door besides getting up there and trying to execute a pitch to the best of your ability and move on to the next one. That's what this time of year is about. And anything can happen.

So, it's just I'm not going to be thinking about that. The layoff, that's not what I'll be focusing on. My job will be just to go out there and take it a pitch at a time.

Q. This team is a lot different from the last time you saw them, the outfield at least. In terms of their lineup, how deep and how scary are they compared to the other teams you've seen this year?

BRANDON WOODRUFF: I think they have a really dangerous lineup. I know when we went to Atlanta, they put it on us pretty good. And they're always just one pitch away from taking the ball out of the yard. I feel that's the way our teams have been in the past. We were always just one guy away from taking it out of the yard.

And that's a dangerous thing. But also on the other side, you can make some pitches. And they're a fairly aggressive team. So you just have to -- the biggest thing is you've just got to go make your pitches and execute to the best of your ability and try to keep them in the ballpark.

But, yes, up and down, one through eight, one through nine, they're really, really good.

Q. I know that in that at-bat by you in the postseason was maybe one of the loudest this ballpark has ever been. What are you looking forward to the most just about the environment, given what 2020 was like and taking the mound in front of these fans?

BRANDON WOODRUFF: To be honest, that moment, I don't know how loud it was. I just, with the whole thing that was going on, I didn't really remember too much.

But this is the funnest time of the year. Everything is amplified. Every pitch is amplified. And you can feel it in the stands. You can feel it on the road. The fans make all the difference.

And with last year and making the playoffs and not having anybody there, it's a weird feeling.

And then getting fans back, slowly but surely, from the beginning of the year and getting full stadiums now, it's a blast. We got a little bit of it in LA for the last series; there was 50,000 there I think the first night.

And it gets loud and it's fun. It's just the crowd makes all the difference in these games. And I do remember '18, and those series here at home, it was extremely loud. And they make a difference for us on the field for sure.

Q. I know you haven't pitched a lot but have you had a bat in your hands the last couple of days?

BRANDON WOODRUFF: I took BP a little bit in the cage yesterday. That was the first time I picked up a bat in just a little bit.

So I think it's just more about getting the bunts down and just trying to advance the runners. But, yeah, I haven't worried too much about that. I think I've been trying to lock in more on the pitching side of it.

Q. Craig said the other day that with this lineup mistakes are going to be home runs. You alluded to that. Does that put more on the mix of your stuff and your pitch selection?

BRANDON WOODRUFF: It can. I think at the end of the day when you come into a game, there's times when -- there's times when you make bad pitches and they foul them off or they swing and miss, and there's sometimes you make good pitches and they get a hit.

And I think just coming into the game, you just try to worry about focusing on that one singular pitch that you're about to throw and try to execute it to the best of your ability.

And if runners get on, that's the thing, if runners get on, you've just got to take a deep breath and just make the best pitch you can.

Yeah, generally with this lineup, they have some guys that can take the ball out of the yard. And that's what they usually feast on is bad, in-zone -- whether it be breaking balls or fastballs that are middle of the plate -- they do a good job of getting some good wood on it.

I mean, that's not what I'm too worried about. I'm just worried about trying to make good pitches. And that's all I can control.

Q. Obviously the important thing this time of year is getting outs. You have been pretty creative doing that over the previous three seasons. Do you think, with the makeup of this starting pitching staff, as good as you guys have been, do you expect to look different this year, was that the goal?

BRANDON WOODRUFF: I think once you get to this part of the year, I think things kind of go out the window, in terms of that. I mean, you look at the wild-card game the other night with Scherzer. His pitch count was up a little bit. But he wasn't in too bad of trouble, I didn't think.

But once you get to this point of the year, you're not worried about the next day; you're worried about today. So for us, we're worried about winning today. And we will move on to tomorrow.

And that's the way you have to approach each and every game, just come in and, what can you do to win today. And tomorrow, we'll worry about tomorrow tomorrow. And that's kind of how you have to approach it. And I think that's what has made us pretty good in the playoffs the last few years is just we're trying to win today and whatever it takes to win that day.

I think that's kind of how you have to approach it. But we'll see. If we're going out there, doing well and making pitches and getting some weak contact and early outs, sure, we can stay in a little bit longer. But especially with a five-game series, you're trying to just win today.

Q. Devin and Suter were such big parts to this bullpen all season. What's your comfort level with the staff you all have going into this series without those two guys?

BRANDON WOODRUFF: I think that's one thing that's made us really good is that we figure out ways to put guys in the right position to get outs and that's no different. I know it's unfortunate both of those injuries.

And it's one of those things, yeah, they're a big part of what we do in late innings. So it's going to be tough. But we also have guys who are very, very capable of getting outs. And that's what our coaching staff is really good at is putting guys in the right position to succeed. And I think this series and hopefully the series beyond this are no different.

Q. If Suter is absent, that makes Aaron Ashby a little more important. You've been in that role when you were young; you guys pitched out of the pen. Do you think Aaron's ready for this atmosphere?

BRANDON WOODRUFF: I can go back a little bit to '18 and kind of just being thrown into that. I just remember the first game; I didn't know I was going to make the roster against the Rockies, then I ended up starting Game 1. And I just remember going home that night and just telling myself, just take it a pitch at a time. Go out there, give it all you've got and we'll see where you're at.

I think that's the biggest thing for Aaron. If he comes in in big situations, it's just slow the game down as much as possible; and, look, he's got unbelievable stuff.

So I think the biggest thing for him is just taking it a pitch at a time, really focusing in on what he's trying to do, and I think he'll be just fine.