Baseball

Dodgers vs. Brewers: setting the table for the series
Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Dodgers vs. Brewers: setting the table for the series
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The National League Championship Series gets underway today. The Milwaukee Brewers will host the Los Angeles Dodgers for the occasion.

Here's the schedule for the championship series in both leagues.

The Milwaukee Brewers got there by winning a playoff round for the first time since 2018. Beating Craig Counsell and the Cubs was… satisfying for the folks in Wisconsin.

The Brewers are playoff regulars (since 2018, they've been part of the fall dance every year except 2022), but not of winning playoff rounds.

In fact, in their entire history, the Brewers have never won two playoff rounds.

Will that change this year? Will the 2018 scenario (when the Dodgers beat the Brewers in the championship series) be repeated instead?

After all, the Dodgers are playoff regulars, and they're not going to take it lying down. After beating the Reds and Phillies fairly easily, Dave Roberts' men are still hungry.

In Los Angeles, it's the World Series or bust. Nothing less.

The pitchers

If you ask people in Major League Baseball which club will have the edge on the mound, their answer is simple: the Dodgers. They ranked all four Dodgers starters ahead of any Brewers pitcher.

Freddy Peralta is the lucky one at #7. He's behind Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow. Snell and Yamamoto will pitch the first two games to get back into the series, and it's unclear when Ohtani will pitch, but he'll be used as a starter.

In Milwaukee, in addition to Peralta (who will pitch Game #2), Quinn Priester (who did poorly against Chicago) is the other true playoff starter. Aaron Ashby and Trevor Megill were also starters against Chicago.

Brandon Woodruff, who suffered a season-ending injury, has yet to start pitching again. He is not an option in the championship series.

However, the Brewers have the advantage in relief. Jose Quintana, Chad Patrick and Jacob Misiorowski (three starters) are notably in the bullpen in the playoffs, providing a helping hand. Misio could be used as a starter, on the other hand.

In 30 innings pitched, the Brewers bullpen has a 1.20 ERA in the playoffs. Only the Padres (in 15.1 innings) have done better at 1.17 – and we were talking about the best bullpen in a long time in the playoffs.

In addition to the players we've already mentioned, Grant Anderson, Nick Mears and excellent late-inning specialist Abner Uribe are players to keep an eye on.

For the Dodgers, the bullpen is truly horrible due to the lack of depth. Good thing Roki Sasaki has risen to become the club's “primary ninth-inning option”. #Machine

Could Tyler Glasnow help out in the bullpen? The schedule doesn't allow for much, but let's just say that Clayton Kershaw, Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia and Emmet Sheehan don't inspire confidence. This is THE big flaw in the club – and in the baseball of 2025, it's a big one.

In addition to Sasaki, Anthony Banda (one inning) and Jack Dryer (five strikeouts over two outings) have given nothing away in the bullpen since the start of the playoffs.

Position players

If I told you that the Brewers had a better OPS (on-base average and power average) than the Dodgers since the start of the series, would you believe me?

But it's true.

Both teams are in the MLB top-3 since the start of the series (far behind the Blue Jays' .974 as of Sunday) with a .753 and .748 mark. It's really tight, yes.

Yet, on paper, the Brewers shouldn't have as many home runs (7) as the Dodgers since the start of the series.

The Dodgers have Shohei Ohtani (who is useless, but needs to give more). Teoscar Hernandez, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy and Kiké Hernandez, among others.

But the Brewers guys are capable of standing up. I don't know if they'll be able to stand up against Dodgers starters, but they can destroy the Los Angeles bullpen, for example.

Andrew Vaughn, Jackson Chourio and William Contreras were excellent against Chicago. Jake Bauer (who was used less), Christian Yelich and Caleb Durbin also know how to play well.

And don't underestimate the likes of Brice Turang and Isaac Collins: do as Blake Snell does and keep in mind that they're good.

The managers

Dave Roberts will never be the unanimous choice in the playoffs, but so far, so good. Aside from the fact that he could have trusted Roki Sasaki quicker in some games, he's doing well right now… and he's got experience in spades. #TwoRings

The guys in Milwaukee love playing for Pat Murphy. Will his lack of experience catch up with him? I don't think so – and it's going to make for a big chess match between the two managers, in my opinion.

The imponderables

The Brewers' forward is comparable to the Dodgers' when everything goes right. The bullpen really is better in Wisconsin – and that's really important in 2025 baseball.

But even so, the Dodgers are the heavy favorites. Everyone understands why.

I always had a feeling it was going to be a long series, and I didn't know which team was going to have the upper hand. I changed my mind every five minutes before sending my official prediction to colleague Sébastien Berrouard.

But what tipped me in favor of the Brewers (in 7) was this: the Milwaukee lineup, if you go back to 2024, has won its last eight games against the Dodgers.

This season, the six meetings between the two teams took place in the space of two weeks in August. It's been six Brewers wins.

I know that the regular season and the playoffs are two different things – especially since the Brewers are historically better in the season and the Dodgers in the playoffs. I also know that the Dodgers' rotation is healthier than it was in August, and that Mookie Betts is currently better after a difficult season.

But let's just say that Shohei Ohtani better wake up early to turn the tide in favor of a team that has a 0-6 record against the Brewers this season.

The Brewers were the best team in baseball in 2025… and the Dodgers are the most talented club. It's going to be a great series.

This content was created with the help of AI.

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