After a mostly nondescript regular season, Woodruff cranked things up in September and into the playoffs. He worked in relief, which allowed him to maximize his pitches and show dominant stuff. An 11th-round pick in 2014, he posted a healthy 26.7 K% in 42.1 regular-season innings. He paired that with average control (8.0 BB%) and an above-average 53.1% groundball rate. The combination of strikeouts and groundballs is quite appealing, although it remains to be seen if the improved stuff will survive the transition back to the rotation. Woodruff was not all that effective as a starter in 2017, posting just a 9.8 K-BB% over eight starts. While the Brewers may go into the season with Woodruff technically in the rotation, they have embraced the idea of blurring the lines between starters and relievers, so he likely wouldn't log many six- or seven-inning outings. That usage should greatly benefit his ratios at the expensive of wins and strikeouts. Read Past Outlooks