A Different Kind of Challenge: How Can Brewers Beat Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow?

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Tarik Skubal and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are the Dodgers' near-immortal October heroes. After most teams start a series with hurlers like that, there's a major step down in quality to the back half of their rotation. In Los Angeles's case, though, that step is much smaller. Here's how the Brewers can attack the other two-time Cy Young Award winner in the Dodgers rotation, and one of the most physically intimidating pitchers in baseball.

Projected Game 3 Starter: Blake Snell

The Brewers got a first-hand look at just how good Snell can be in 2025. He capitalized on a change in his pitch mix, throwing a heavy dose of in-zone changeups that completely befuddled Milwaukee in one of the best starts of his career: eight innings, one hit, 10 strikeouts. But that isn't always the version of Snell that opponents see.

Snell is willing to nibble around the edges of the zone, making swing decisions in the shadow zone particularly important for Milwaukee against another high-release, left-handed pitcher with a devastating fastball and changeup. The difference is that Snell is much more comfortable giving up a walk than Skubal, and somehow even harder to square up when hitters do swing.

His start against the Braves showed both sides of that equation. Snell lasted just 3⅔ innings, walking five hitters and striking out five, but he allowed only one run. Three hits and five walks might suggest that Atlanta simply missed its opportunity, but there is a reason Snell can survive that kind of traffic. His fastball has elite ride, and when he works at the top of the zone, it's extremely difficult to get on top of. Add a wicked slider and curveball that blend beautifully with the fastball from his high release point, plus a quality changeup, and Snell's four-pitch mix is loaded with ways to beat a hitter.

This is the type of contact quality Snell has allowed this season:

Snell isn't overly concerned about the walks, because he trusts his ability to strand runners once they reach base. Especially in the tense environment of a playoff game, he can induce chase, generate swing-and-miss, and force weak contact when hitters finally do get the ball in the zone.

Even when he does throw strikes, Snell is difficult to hit. Fresh off the injured list, his fastball has gained roughly an inch of both ride and run compared with 2025. As a result, the one pitch that hitters had previously been able to barrel with some consistency has taken a step forward.

That makes this a waiting game for Milwaukee. Can the Brewers build enough pressure on Snell that he finally blinks before they do? Can they turn the walks and deep counts into hard contact when he eventually has to come into the zone? More importantly, can they force him to throw enough pitches that the Dodgers have to turn to their bullpen earlier than they'd like?

Atlanta managed to run Snell's pitch count up and get him out of the game, and white-knuckled their way to a win from there. Milwaukee may need a similar approach. They're unlikely to drop the hammer on Snell, and they'll need some batted-ball fortune when their opportunities arrive, but if they can make him work, accept the walks and punish the mistakes, they have a path to turning Snell's greatest strength, his willingness to live on the edges, into a weakness. Braves batters swung at just 34 of the 90 pitches Snell threw in the NLDS. To match that patience in last year's NLCS Game 1, the Brewers would have had to swing 10 fewer times. The key to beating Snell is those 10 fewer swings.

NLCS Game Four Starter: Tyler Glasnow

Tyler Glasnow works from one of the highest release points in baseball, pairing a high-velocity fastball with breaking balls that feature sharp, late movement. Like Snell, he's comfortable working outside the strike zone and using his secondary pitches to induce chases. His two breaking balls can fall off the table, making them difficult to touch—let alone hit hard.

Glasnow threw just 74 innings during the regular season, but posted a 0.95 WHIP and a 34% strikeout rate, a testament to how difficult he is to handle—particularly when he gets ahead in the count. There is, however, another dimension to the matchup. Glasnow can be vulnerable to the running game: opposing runners went 14-for-17 on stolen-base attempts against him in 2026, an 82% success rate. If the Brewers can get men on base, they may have opportunities to pile on pressure with their legs. The bigger question, of course, is how they get on in the first place.

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Once again, the fastball could be the key. Glasnow's breaking balls have enough depth and movement to make consistent contact a challenge, particularly when hitters are forced to protect against them outside the strike zone. The Brewers will need to recognise those pitches early and avoid expanding the zone. The encouraging sign is that, unlike Yamamoto, Glasnow has shown a more conventional relationship between count leverage and pitch selection: as he falls behind, the likelihood of seeing a fastball increases.

Glasnow's outing against the Braves offered a glimpse of both his vulnerability and his ability to limit the damage. He struggled to locate his secondary pitches, walking five hitters, and threw his four-seam fastball in the strike zone roughly two-thirds of the time. The Braves managed just one run, however, illustrating how difficult it can be to capitalize on Glasnow's occasional command issues.

Even when Glasnow loses his feel for the secondaries, his four-seamer remains a formidable weapon. Released from a high arm slot, the pitch can play above the barrel, but it also cuts just enough to slide along the barrel. That helps him limit hard contact and keep the ball in the park, even when hitters know a fastball is coming. The offering has some similarities to the one the Brewers recently faced from Nick Pivetta, against whom they timed the fastball well. That being said, recognizing the pitch and actually squaring it up are two very different things.

The Brewers' best approach will be to make Glasnow work. Extending at-bats, laying off pitches outside the zone, and forcing him to find the strike zone with his secondary offerings could create opportunities to get runners aboard. From there, they can look to apply pressure on the bases and turn a difficult matchup into a more uncomfortable one. That fits their broader approach of building pressure and forcing mistakes, but Glasnow is unlikely to unravel simply because the Brewers make him work.

Ultimately, the Brewers will need to combine disciplined at-bats with timely hitting. Glasnow has the stuff to overpower even a patient lineup, and he would be an ace in most postseason rotations. The opportunity is there, but exploiting it will require the Brewers to turn the few openings he gives them into meaningful damage.