How 2023 Brewers Players Have Performed in Past Postseasons

Having suffered the heat of those October spotlights can temper and harden a player, and the Brewers' previous forays into the postseason under Craig Counsell have done some of that firing already. Here are the guys to whom younger players can turn for insight on the experience ahead, and whom Counsell can trust most to know and manage the moment.

Corbin Burnes
The team's ace has pitched in a total of three playoff series. Coming out of the bullpen in his rookie year, he made two relief appearances against the Rockies in the 2018 NLDS, pitching four shutout innings and giving up just one hit along the way. In the NLCS against the Dodgers, he gave up two earned runs in five innings. 2021 was Burnes’ first year as a playoff starter, pitching six shutout innings against the eventual world champion Braves. 

Overall, he’s got a pretty stellar 1.20 ERA and 0.67 WHIP, but over just 15 innings. 2021 was also his Cy Young year, and his 2023 has been a step back from that season, but this year’s peaks have been as good as he's been in any season. With his combination of stuff, command, and stamina, look for Burnes to be an integral piece of the Milwaukee playoff run.

Brandon Woodruff
Having one of the best regular seasons of his career thus far (well, when he's been available, anyway), it can be easy to forget that Woodruff has also made great starts in the postseason. He pitched alongside Burnes in the 2018 NLDS and NLCS, pitching 12 1/3 innings. Most notably, he pitched 9 ⅓ innings against the Dodgers, giving up just three earned runs.

Because of Burnes’s struggles in 2019 and his oblique strain late in 2020, Woodruff picked up the slack, and has nearly twice as much as his rotation mate in the playoffs, posting a cumulative 3.18 ERA and 0.85 WHIP over 28 1/3 innings pitched. He’s been nothing short of incredible since returning from the IL, and there doesn’t seem to be any reason for that momentum to stop any time soon.

Carlos Santana 
A veteran clubhouse presence, Santana has put together 120 postseason plate appearances and an OPS of .681 over the course of his lengthy major-league career. While his best years are undoubtedly behind him, he managed to turn back the clock in last year’s AL Wild Card round.

Over nine plate appearances with the Mariners, Santana slashed .250/.333/.750 against the Blue Jays and hit a clutch three-run homer when his team was faced with elimination. This kickstarted a momentous rally that saw Seattle overcome a six-run deficit and punch their ticket to the ALDS. 

Santana has been right about league-average offensively since coming over from Pittsburgh, but given how young this Brewers team is, he’s one of the few players with robust October baseball experience. Both his bat and his leadership will be key tools.

Josh Donaldson
Okay, hear me out. Since arriving in Milwaukee, fans have seen an immediate uptick in offensive performance over his time in New York. Like Joey Gallo and Aaron Hicks before him, it seems like New York was the problem for Donaldson--or at least part of it.

He’s got even more playoff experience than Santana, putting together 203 plate appearances and a slash line of .246/.335/.397 over 12 series played. Sure, his OPS of .732 is inflated by some monstrous runs with the Blue Jays in his younger years, but who’s to say there isn’t still some of the old “Bringer of Rain” somewhere in there?

Furthermore, while he’s not remotely qualified given the amount of time missed to injury, his limited Savant data shows that he’s still hitting the ball hard and walking at an exceptional rate. Don’t expect him to put the entire team on his back, but his experience and intensity might be enough to push the Brewers over the edge.

That's not a comprehensive list of the players on the roster who have experience in the postseason, but these four guys have played there the most and the best. They're the ones to whom Sal Frelick or Abner Uribe can turn for advice on the different dynamics of high-stakes baseball. After that, it's up to everyone to perform for themselves, and to write their own heroic October legacies.