Brewers' Bullpen Lefties Hold Key to Controlling Dodgers' Biggest Bats

Image courtesy of Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

Brewers Video

There is no question that the Milwaukee Brewers' pitching staff as a whole is better-equipped heading into the NL Championship Series this year than it was last year against the same opponent, the powerful Los Angeles Dodgers.

Not only is that from a health angle, but from a weapons perspective, too.

Specifically, the Brewers are stocked up on quality left-handed pitchers to attack the Dodgers' top bats, most of which are left-handed. While only one of the Brewers' probable starters—Jacob Misiorowski, Logan Henderson, Dustin May and Robert Gasser—is a lefty (Gasser), the Brewers are expected to have five left-handers in the bullpen.

Expect to see a lot not only of Aaron Ashby, who led the Crew in regular-season appearances with 75, but of DL Hall, JoJo Romero, Shane Drohan, and Kyle Harrison.

Romero was acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals at the trade deadline for these situations, but Hall has emerged into some leverage use, which was on display in the NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres. After not being on the postseason roster in 2025 as he finished the year on the injured list with a strained right oblique, he got three late outs in Game 1 against the Padres, setting up right-hander Trevor Megill, then notched four outs in the Game 3 loss, with right-hander Abner Uribe finishing. Drohan and Harrison, acquired in the spring from the Boston Red Sox, did not pitch in the NLDS and will be making their postseason debuts.

All have had key roles for the Brewers at some time during the regular season, with perhaps the exception of Hall. But Hall has now had two postseason appearances, setting him up for his spots against the Dodgers.

Which brings us to the Dodgers.

Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Kyle Tucker. Those are the Dodgers' left-handed bats, with Tommy Edman a switch-hitter. With the youth of most of the Brewers' lefties, there isn't much of a track record to go off of. Ashby has faced Ohtani six times (2-for-4, two RBIs, walk, sacrifice fly), while holding the other three to 0-for-3 with two walks and a hit-by-pitch. Romero has more experience vs. that quartet, with Freeman going 2-for-8 with a double and a walk, Tucker 1-for-2 with a walk and a hit-by-pitch, and Muncy 0-for-5. He has kept Ohtani in check thus far at 1-for-8 with four strikeouts.

Those are already fairly small sample sizes.

Against lefties, Dodgers left-handed hitters have a .249/.325/.427 (.752 OPS) slash line, while putting up a .260/.353/.431 (.784 OPS) mark against righties.

With the variety of lefties, manager Pat Murphy and pitching coach Chris Hook will be able to deploy their southpaws at different times and spread out the matchups so some don't get too repetitive over a seven-game series. Of course, that probably doesn't apply to Ashby and Romero, who will be used in more crucial situations regardless of inning.

Hall and Drohan will be next up in the pecking order, with the Brewers carefully picking Harrison's situations. He has looked better in his more recent relief appearances after struggling in the aftermath of being removed from the rotation.

The starts by Misiorowski and Henderson in the first two games will be particularly important in limiting the exposure of the left-handed relievers. Not that the Brewers are banking on this, but Ohtani's current status as looking rather mortal will also play into who faces who and when. Murphy might be more willing to roll with a right-hander to finish off an inning vs. Ohtani rather than automatically bringing in a lefty, even for an out. The four-time MVP, who earned NLCS MVP for his incredible two-way performance in the clinching Game 4 a year ago, went just 2-for-13 in the Dodgers' four-game NL Division Series win over Atlanta and hasn't homered since Aug. 18, during which Ohtani is 13-for-83 (.157). That span includes a stint on the 15-day injured list near the end of the regular season.

But Ohtani, like Freeman, Muncy and Tucker, can get hot and be a force at any time. That is one reason why the Dodgers are the two-time defending World Series champs.

Last year, the Brewers had Ashby, Gasser and Jared Koenig as lefties in the bullpen, one fewer than this year. Ashby was used as an opener twice, basically wasting his value. Gasser was used for two outs, while Koenig was in three of the four games, pitching four innings.

This year, though, the Brewers are better armed to take on that challenge. They will need that as the series is unlikely to be a repeat of last year's sweep.

Which team do you dislike the most in the NL Central?

See All Brewers Polls >

Steve Drumwright grew up in Wisconsin and was forced out of youth baseball when he failed to make enough contact to play the sport he loves. He did make one memorable pitching appearance, summoned from right field in a blowout. Steve went on to a successful journalism career, beginning as a part-time high school sportswriter in small-town Wisconsin to becoming the No. 2 person in the newsroom in San Francisco. Steve enjoys telling the stories of other people and how sports is a terrific vehicle for telling those stories. He now lives in Southern California. Follow him on Bluesky.