Fear The Chorizo

As long as the zone is consistently tight for a wild Snell, ill live with it

I think part of Ashby starting is he is a lefty that could give them a couple innings, which prevents the Dodgers from trying to open the game with more of their righthanded hitters at the top of the order if, for example, Koenig was opening tonight's game. If Ashby is "on" he's got the best pure stuff on the roster when it comes to velo+pitch mix+movement.

Agreed - Priester was a starter the Brewers relied on to give them 5-7 IP every time he took the ball. I think the layoff from his last meaningful regular season start and 1st postseason one impacted him and not viewing him as a key playoff rotation piece in this series sets the pen up to be torched during that 3 game stretch in LA. Maybe open woth Koenig if you want, but id prefer priester tonight, Freddy game 2, Quintana game 3, and a long pen game 4. As others have mentioned, attempting to cycle the bullpen like crazy through a 7 game series is just asking for guys to get exposed/figured out for at bats when it matters most, especially if you arent giving your starters the opportunity to get you at least half the outs of the game.

Easier said than done because they both have great stuff...but make them throw strikes and grind at bats. One of several things Dodgers pitching is great at is giving up walks in bunches.

I will be very interested seekng what things look like once Watson is back on the field - him, Golden and Doubs with Kraft at TE and Jacobs in the backfield could be a dynamic skill position group...assuming the line can block.

There is still such a lack of identity with this squad...things eventually opened up running the ball, but that doesn't seem like something they can do at will. I think offensively, they still try doing too many things and it prevents them from getting into a consistent rhythm. When the defense cant get off the field at times again, that really shows up in the box scores, too.

Nothing like squeezing out a win against a brutal team with your backup fg kicker to make you look forward to game 1 of the nlcs even more!

Great throw and catch to golden...I dont know what the heck the personnel package/playcall on 2nd down was though. They dont convert that they probably lose this game

That's also an absurd catch by one of the 3 best WR in football. Get a couple 1st downs and ice this thing, please

This is so lame

Just atrociously conservative playcalling again so far - apparently a bye week isnt enough time to game plan for a sieve of a defense

How is McDaniel still an NFL head coach? Also, how is Tua still an NFL qb?

Gotta go Priester and Freddy at home for games 1-2....game 3 I'd be open with Quintana, game 4 would be Patrick/BP, and game 5 is a TBD depending on where the series sits. the Dodgers can start 4 apparent aces for games 1-4....however that approach could gas their bullpen in the middle of this series if the Brewers can keep their starters from working into the 7th every game. Everyone, including most brewer fans, assume this series goes to the Dodgers in 5 games or less - i think its going 6 or 7 and its a coinflip on who wins it.

I think its very important to remember and factor in the Cubs still own the tiebreaker for the division. Hopefully that doesnt come back to haunt the Brewers in the NLCS!

It's also the frustration of a short playoff series - Brewers have lost the last two games largely due to 3 total swings of the bat from the Cub side of things, which are exponentially magnified because the Brewer bats have gone cold. Anything can happen in a winner take series game, so hopefully randomness goes in the Brewers favor and a few guys we're crapping on most of this last week come up big tomorrow night.

I still think I'd prefer Miz starting tomorrow night over anyone else....but if there's hesitancy at all with how he'd react at this point to getting the start, I think I'd want any secondary option starting the game to be a righty (Patrick, Anderson, Megill, even Uribe) - for the sole reason to have Busch penciled in at the leadoff spot and not just on the bench waiting to pinch hit at the most opportune time later in the game. I don't like the idea of Quintana starting on 2 days rest and facing Turner/Hoerner/Tucker/Suzuki/Righty Happ - then having Busch to slot in later in the game against a righty with runners on base. Priester also threw too many pitches Wednesday for me to want him starting this game - I think the layoff/bye impacted how rusty he came out Wednesday, and getting nothing from him completely altered this series. It was a very well thought out plan from Murphy (not referring at all to the lineup shenanigans, just the pitching plan), and Priester simply crapped the bed. That sucks, because he was such a huge part of why the Brewers got to the point they're at. It's also worth noting that the Cubs have done all their HR damage off low-mid 90s fastballs this series, the lone exception being Suzuki's HR of Ashby on a chest-high 92 mph changeup that missed its location by at least a foot and a half. Brewer starters have really struggled locating their secondary pitches, and even though the Cubs do struggle with high velocity, if they know they can largely spit on anything offspeed against pitchers who don't have 98 in the tank they are gearing up to do damage against the "decent" 92-95 mph heat. I think Patrick has pitched well this series in large part because his four seamer has been sitting 96-98 and he's been able to command his cutter and throw strikes with it. Miz got on a decent roll because he was able to reasonably command his low 90s slider/cutter in the zone and get called strikes on it on top of overwhelming most of the hitters with triple digit four seamers/sinkers. Freddy used his changeup effectively in game 1 off 95+mph heat after he served up the gopher ball to Busch - last night he struggled to throw it for strikes and labored having to rely too much on his fastball. None of this matters at all if the Brewers can't hit...but I think this game swings one way or the other significantly early depending how the first Brewer to take the hill fares against the top of the order.

I'm leaning towards giving Miz the ball and seeing what happens early tomorrow, for a couple reasons: 1 - If he's "on", he's the one arm with starting experience I have confidence in being able to keep the Cubs off the board in the 1st inning, and he'd have the best shot to give the Brewers any sort of length a couple times through the Cub batting order. It will be a highwire act - but will have much more to do with whether or not he's throwing strikes/locating that slider compared to whether or not he's keeping the ball in the park. 2 - If he's "on", the Brewers can get creative with their starting lineup without too much concern about guys getting put in strange defensive positions, in order to try and maximize offense. A high number of strikeouts and weak contact limit the damage that a less than GG caliber outfield is playing defense behind Miz if it means getting as many bats in the lineup as possible. Prioritize getting a damn lead early at home, then as the game moves on bring guys like Ortiz and Perkins off the bench for defense while playing with the lead. I wouldn't mind seeing Chourio as the DH and sticking Yelich (who at least isn't hobbled) in left - and Bauers in the other corner with Frelick in center. Monasterio needs the start at short, find a way to get both Bauers and Vaughn in the lineup regardless of who the Cubs start (Imanaga's stuff should not prevent Bauers from starting, IMO), and stack the top of the order up in a way that doesn't stick hitters currently going through rough rally-killing slumps (looking at you Turang, Durbin, Ortiz) sandwiched between hitters that are reasonably dangerous. Chourio LF/DH Yelich DH/LF Contreras C Vaughn 1B Bauers RF Durbin 3B Frelick CF Mona SS Turang 2B I have zero faith Murphy is going to view this game the same way I do, but this would be my ideal lineup to start Saturday.

I think that would be a blessing to the Brewers....but definitely a possibility.

Id imagine the Cubs start Rea saturday? Agreed that Bauers has to be in the lineup...but so does Vaughn. Mona at SS, too. I dont care where or how that impacts the defense - at this point you desperately need offense/pop however you can get it. Score some damn runs and then use your bench to bolster the defense as the game goes on with the guys who havent been hitting. Hoskins should have been on this playoff roster, too.

That's what happens when all you have is two light singles and a double down the line to call your offense

Blind faith that playoff baseball is silly randomness. The Brewers have to hit in order for that to be true, though.

Ashby will be on fumes Saturday. If they get out of this down 4, and dont score in the 7th, give the ball to Gasser and hope like hell home cooking can win you a ballgame saturday

At this rate I expect Gasser to start saturday ....and play center field, hitting 6th. Murphy is grasping at straws in a place that doesnt serve drinks

Tailon start game 3

Its not the right reason...but it was to get Bauers in the lineup since a righty was starting.