Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell knew Brandon Woodruff would be his Opening Day starter last October, but it took until Friday for him to tell that to the media.

Speaking with reporters, Counsell said Woodruff will get the ball to open the season when the Brewers travel to Wrigley Field next Friday to take on the Chicago Cubs. It will be his first Opening Day start, and he’ll be the first pitcher drafted and developed by the Brewers to be on the mound for an opener since Yovani Gallardo in 2014.

“The first part of our conversation was this will be the first of many to come for you,” Counsell said of his talk with the 27-year-old Woodruff. “It’s important that he’s a Brewer and we developed him.”

Woodruff was named an NL All-Star last season as he completed his first full year in Milwaukee’s rotation, though he did miss around six weeks with an injury. He went 11-3 with a 3.62 ERA as the Brewers made it to the postseason for a second-straight season.

The big righty got the ball in the NL Wild Card game against Washington and allowed just two hits and one run over four innings of work in a game Milwaukee would end up losing. That followed a strong postseason in 2018 where he had an ERA of 1.46 over 12.1 innings and also hit a home run off of Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 of the NLCS.

“He’s gone through this not always perfect path, but actually a pretty good, if you even it out, just gradual path to this place,” Counsell said. “And he’s ready to keep going.”

Counsell said Brett Anderson would get the ball in the second game against the Cubs assuming the blister on his throwing hand clears up.