StaTuesday: Brandon Woodruff's latest gem a Brewers milestone
Recently, we noted that Brandon Woodruff is a pitcher who can rake.
Well, he’s also a pitcher who can, uh, pitch.
In Sunday’s 9-1 victory over Philadelphia at Miller Park, Woodruff tossed a gem rarely seen around these parts.
Woodruff went eight innings against the Phillies, allowing just one hit – a solo homer – while not issuing a single walk and striking out 10.
It marked the fourth time in franchise history that a Brewers pitcher went at least eight innings, allowed one (or fewer) hits and struck out 10 or more batters. The last to do it was C.C. Sabathia, who allowed only an infield single to Pittsburgh’s Andy LaRoche (although many thought it should have been ruled an error) on Aug. 31, 2008. Sabathia is the only one of the four to have tossed a complete game; he walked three and struck out 11.
Steve Woodard accomplished the feat in the first game of a doubleheader against Toronto on July 28, 1997, going eight innings allowing one hit and one walk while striking out 12 in 1-0 win. Cal Eldred also went eight innings giving up one hit and one walk in a 3-0 victory over Texas on April 23, 1993, but, like Woodruff, he had “just” 10 strikeouts. Interestingly, all four of these games were played in Milwaukee (two at Miller Park, two at County Stadium).
One thing Woodruff did that the other three didn’t, though, was not issue a walk. A pitcher tossing at 8+ innings while allowing no or one hit, striking out 10+ and not walking a single batter is extremely rare in major-league history. In fact, since 1908 it’s only been done 46 times.
Hall of Famer Walter Johnson had two of the first four known such instances – in 1910 and 1920. After his last performance, a 10-strikeout no-hitter, it wasn’t accomplished again in the majors until Philadelphia’s Curt Simmons in 1953.
It happened just six times in the 1960s, four by pitchers who ended up in the Hall of Fame – Jim Bunning, Sandy Koufax, Catfish Hunter (more on his game in a minute) and Tom Seaver. Only one pitcher accomplished the feat in the 1970s – the Dodgers Bill Singer in ’70 – and three in the 1980s, and two of those occurred in perfect games (Len Barker, Mike Witt). The 1990s saw it occur seven times. Since 2000, there have been 24 instances of a 8+ IP, 0 or 1 hit, 0 BB, 10+ K games and 18 of those have occurred this decade.
However, Woodruff’s performance was the first in nearly two years.
| PITCHER | TM | OPP | DATE | IP | H | K |
| Brandon Woodruff | MIL | PHI | 5/26/2019 | 8 | 1 | 10 |
| Rich Hill | LAD | PIT | 8/23/2017 | 9 | 1 | 10 |
| Max Scherzer | WAS | NYM | 10/3/2015 | 9 | 0 | 17 |
| Max Scherzer | WAS | PIT | 6/20/2015 | 9 | 0 | 10 |
| Chris Heston | SF | NYM | 6/9/2015 | 9 | 0 | 11 |
| Jacob deGrom | NYM | STL | 5/21/2015 | 8 | 1 | 11 |
| Corey Kluber | CLE | STL | 5/13/2015 | 8 | 1 | 18 |
| Madison Bumgarner | SF | COL | 8/26/2014 | 9 | 1 | 13 |
| Josh Tomlin | CLE | SEA | 6/28/2014 | 9 | 1 | 11 |
| Clayton Kershaw | LAD | COL | 6/18/2014 | 9 | 0 | 15 |
| Shelby Miller | STL | COL | 5/10/2013 | 9 | 1 | 13 |
| Matt Harvey | NYM | CWS | 5/7/2013 | 9 | 1 | 12 |
| Yu Darvish | TEX | HOU | 5/7/2013 | 8.2 | 1 | 14 |
| Felix Hernandez | SEA | TB | 8/15/2012 | 9 | 0 | 12 |
| R.A. Dickey | NYM | TB | 6/13/2012 | 9 | 1 | 12 |
| Matt Cain | SF | HOU | 6/13/2012 | 9 | 0 | 14 |
| Matt Cain | SF | PIT | 4/13/2012 | 9 | 1 | 11 |
| Roy Halladay | PHI | FLA | 5/29/2010 | 9 | 0 | 11 |
Woodruff was the first to win such a game since Scherzer in 2015. Rich Hill is the only one of the 46 to lose such a game. Pete Richert and Matt Harvey both got a no-decision. The other 43 notched a win.
Woodruff certainly is in a groove on the mound. In his last six starts – in which he’s earned a victory in each – he’s allowed just six runs in 38 innings (1.42 ERA) on 23 hits (.178 OBA) and eight walks with 43 strikeouts. Entering Tuesday’s games, Woodruff leads the National League in wins (7) and is seventh in WHIP (1.088), eighth in K/9 (10.49), ninth in strikeouts (75), ninth in FIP (3.13) and 10th in bWAR for pitchers (1.8).
As we mentioned up top, Woodruff can hit, too. In that game Sunday, he went 2-for-3 with a double (he’s now slashing .370/.393/.481) and two RBI. In other words, he had double the hits at the plate than he allowed. That made him the first Brewers pitcher in history to go at least seven innings and have more hits batting than given up.
Woodruff’s performance on the hill and at the plate was one of the best in over half a century. According to stat maven Doug Kern, Woodruff was the first pitcher since the above-mentioned Hunter (who tossed a perfect game) on May 8, 1968 to pitch at least eight innings, allowed one or fewer hits and strike out 10+ batters while also recording 2+ hits -- with at least one an extra-base hit -- and driving in 2+ runs.
In other words, if you weren’t sure by now, that game by Woodruff on May 26 was something special.
Dave Heller is the author of Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow (a Larry Ritter Book Award nominee), Facing Ted Williams - Players From the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns
