Steve Drumwright

Image courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images If you think Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy has been a little edgy this season, you are correct. And that edginess is needed at its most right now. With the Brewers feeling good after taking the first two games of the NL Championship Series at American Family Field against the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, Murphy and his staff are about to find out how much this approach has taken hold of his young players. "I respect the Dodgers a great deal. That's all there is to it," Murphy said after the 7-3 win in Game 2. "They're arguably one of the best teams ever put together. They're a great team. And I'm not going to think about anything but the next game. That's it. Just one inning, one pitch at a time. Don't look ahead. Don't plan. Don't complain, explain. Just keep going." But that is hard to do when your team is two wins away from returning to the World Series for the first time since 1982. Teams winning the first two games of any best-of-seven postseason series have gone on to win the series 79 of 95 tries (83.2%). Teams that are up 2-0 after winning both at home in the current 2-3-2 format have won 46 of 57 series (80.7%). Murphy is channeling his inner Han Solo: "Don't ever tell me the odds." He knows full well that if there is one team that can flip those odds, it is the Dodgers with their star-studded roster and back-to-back World Series rings. That feat has been done very recently. Just last year, the Toronto Blue Jays lost the first two of the AL Championship Series at home to the Seattle Mariners, then won the next two on the road, then both at home to advance to the World Series. That was the latest of the 16 comebacks from 2-0 deficits, six of which have happened in the LCS. Of the 16 instances, 12 were pulled off by the team that did not have home-field advantage. It also happened in 2023, when the Philadelphia Phillies were up 2-0 in the NLCS after outscoring the Arizona Diamondbacks 15-3. The D'backs won the next two, lost Game 5, then won the final two games on the road in Philadelphia to move on to the World Series. The Dodgers were down 2-0 to Atlanta in the 2020 NLCS, played at a neutral site due to the pandemic, and were also down 3-1 after dropping Game 4. Los Angeles, which had the best MLB record that season at 43-17, won the next three games at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, then won the World Series at the same venue. Before that, the last time a comeback like that happened was even more spectacular. That was the 2004 ALCS in which the Boston Red Sox lost the first three, then won the final four en route to winning the World Series, ending their historic 86-year drought. Murphy's challenge will be to keep the younger players in check. He has a few veterans to rely on, led by captain Christian Yelich, as well as injured right-hander Brandon Woodruff, outfielder Sal Frelick and former Dodger Dustin May, who was on that 2020 L.A. championship team. However, with the mentality that Murphy has instilled since the first day of spring training, it shouldn't be a tough task to keep the players focused on the task at hand. That is winning Game 3. Then winning Game 4. One game at a time. Until the Brewers actually get that fourth win and can celebrate actually going to the World Series for the first time in 44 years, Murphy will need to maintain the edge he has had all season. Benching rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt to teach him about running everything out. Removing rookie right-hander Brandon Sproat mid at-bat because he wasn't throwing strikes. That edge is as important as ever now. The Dodgers have the players who can flip the switch at a moment's notice. Mookie Betts single, Freddie Freeman double, Kyle Tucker homer. Bam. Three runs. The Brewers' pitching has handled that lineup well through two games. Only two Dodgers have more than one hit (Betts and Teoscar Hernandez have two). Remember, these Dodgers were down 3-2 to the Blue Jays in last year's World Series, then won two the final two in Toronto for their second straight World Series title. "The way I look at it, you're climbing a mountain, and you're getting really close to the top, and when you are, usually that path narrows a little bit, you know what I mean? It's not as wide," Murphy said Tuesday. "When you start the mountain, it seems like this wide. Then as you get closer and closer, most mountains are like that. "I think, as you get closer, you've just got to keep your footing, keep your head down, make sure you keep your footing, and you can't look too far ahead. When you look up for the prize, 'Oh, where's the top?' you might step in a crack or a pothole. You've got to keep your head down and go forward and don't — adversity is coming. You know all that kind of stuff could possibly come, whatever, just keep responding, keep your head down, and keep going." View full article

Image courtesy of USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect How much is America behind the Milwaukee Brewers? If you are to believe hashtags from a questionable website loaded with bots, the Brewers have overwhelming support in the NL Championship Series. That is because of the Crew's opponent, the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and their mega-payroll. In fact, all the payrolls of the Brewers and the two AL Championship participants are each less than what the Dodgers will pay just in competitive-balance tax penalties ($183 million). In data from Saturday up until just before first pitch of Monday's Game 2, the sports-betting website thesportsinsider.com said fans in 34 of the 50 states had thrown their support behind the Brew Crew, who posted MLB's best record at 103-59. The Dodgers, who entered the NLCS as the favorite and have been the top choice to win this year's World Series since the final out of the 2025 Fall Classic, accumulated just three states: California, Nevada and Hawaii. In addition to taking most of the Midwest and other states to the west of Wisconsin, the Brewers also pulled in Alaska, several Northeastern states including New York and Massachusetts, as well as Southern states, with Georgia and Alabama among them. Over in the AL Championship Series, the Tampa Bay Rays were only able to win their home state, Florida, while the Cleveland Guardians took care of many of the rest of the states surrounding Ohio and into the Mid-Atlantic, getting 12. As Brewers fans painfully know, the team has not won a World Series since the franchise came into existence in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots. Neither have the Rays, who started in 1998. Cleveland has won two World Series, the last in 1948. Sports Insider, using geotagged data, tracked various hashtags on X.com, more commonly known as Twitter. The primary hashtags counted were the Brewers' #ThisIsMyCrew, the Dodgers' #ITFDB and #LetsGoDodgers, the Rays' #ForTampaBay and the Guardians' #GuardsBall. Also, phrases such as "I'm rooting for the Brewers" were tracked. The timeframe of the social-media posts for all four teams began from the time the ALCS matchup was set Saturday. According to the website Bitdefender, a cybersecurity and software company, the social-media website's owner said Twitter suspended 800 million accounts in 2024 for breaching rules on spam and manipulation. Other estimates have between 9% and 15% of accounts as bots, an alarming number. There was no data on how many of those bots are Brewers (or Dodgers) fans, but would they tell you the truth anyway? View full article

Image courtesy of Benny Sieu-Imagn Images How often can you say a game-changing plate appearance happened in the third inning? Well, in the postseason, it can occur at any time. Most remember walk-offs or late-inning hits that lead to a team winning a game. But Monday, the biggest plate appearance happened in the bottom of the third inning of the NL Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. It was a walk—it was the walk heard 'round Wisconsin. And because of it, the Brewers have a 2-0 lead over the Dodgers thanks to a 7-4 win. Four wins are needed to get through the NLCS. A trip to the World Series, their first since 1982, awaits if they get two more. It won't be easy as the next three games are in Los Angeles. The Dodgers had just taken a 2-1 lead in the top of the third inning against Brewers rookie right-hander Logan Henderson. Perhaps the Dodgers were about to go on and add more runs against Henderson and go on to even the best-of-seven series at a game apiece. After all, the Dodgers had right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound, last year's World Series MVP. The Japanese star began his impeccable postseason run against these Brewers in Game 2 of last year's NLCS, throwing the first of back-to-back complete games. Those were the first complete games of Yamamoto's brief MLB career. So it had to creep into the Brewers' minds that Yamamoto was about to throw a shutdown inning and give the Dodgers' bats a chance to tack on. Only the Brewers had other ideas. David Hamilton, the light-hitting No. 9 batter, led off with a single to center. Star leadoff hitter Jackson Chourio lined out to right fielder Kyle Tucker, who made a nice running play. Hamilton easily stole second and one of the Game 1 heroes, Brice Turang, walked. William Contreras, who would make his own mark on this game with two run-scoring singles and a solo homer, flew out to center, with the runners still at first and second. Up came Bauers. A surprising big piece of the Brewers' offense this season with a team-high 26 homers to go along with 86 RBIs, Bauers didn't have a good at-bat in his first trip to the plate against Yamamoto. He popped up to catcher Will Smith on five pitches. Yamamoto wishes he only needed five pitches against Bauers in his second time up. Bauers, a left-handed hitter, got ahead in the count 2-1, with Yamamoto getting back into the count with a curveball at the top of the zone. The next pitch was a ball high and outside. Full count. Two outs. Two on. The fun was about to begin. 97 mph four-seamer up and in. Fouled off. 77.7 mph curveball down and in. Fouled off. 95.7 mph sinker middle up. Fouled off. 97.4 mph four-seamer up and off the plate inside. Fouled off. 93.7 mph cutter just a little below the previous pitch. Fouled off. 92.3 mph splitter missed low and outside. Fouled off. Six straight foul balls. The tension of the postseason, even on a late-afternoon start on a Monday, was intense. The sellout gathering at American Family Field was with Bauers on every pitch, every swing. Finally, after swinging at three pitches that were out of the strike zone, the last three swings, Bauers didn't swing. Ball four was in the dirt. After a scintillating 12-pitch battle with one of the best pitchers in all of MLB, the journeyman first baseman trotted to first with a walk that loaded the bases. Bauers, as the Brewers have preached all season, did his job and handed the baton to the next hitter, That guy was Christian Yelich, the newly christened captain of the Crew. After a poor finish to the regular season and speculation over his postseason role rampant, Yelich has found a second wind after being named captain. Yelich lined a 1-0 curveball right down the pipe to center. Two runs scored. The Brewers had the lead at 3-2. That lead wouldn't hold. The Dodgers took a 4-3 lead, then the Brewers tied it 4-4. But what Bauers did wore down Yamamoto. After Yelich's hit, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts did what no one had on their bingo card entering the game: removing his ace with two outs in the third inning. Yamamoto had thrown 75 pitches. A Yamamoto game usually means a light day for the bullpen. Not on this day. Bauers exhausted Yamamoto with a plate appearance that took 7 minutes, 15 seconds. It was Yamamoto's shortest of 11 postseason starts. The 2⅔ innings matches what Yamamoto pitched to close out Game 7 of the World Series last year. This year's Game 2 was different. No complete game. Instead, a parade of seven Dodgers relievers. The Brewers have now beaten Yamamoto and Tarik Skubal, the two-time reigning AL Cy Young Award winner in the first two games of the series. Blake Snell, another two-time Cy Young Award winner, awaits in Game 3. But as Yamamoto found out, these Brewers are different. They have expected to perform on this stage. They have done just that. And a 12-pitch walk has the Brewers with an improbable series lead and halfway to a long-awaited trip to the World Series. View full article

Image courtesy of Benny Sieu-Imagn Images Following a 2-1 victory in Game 1 of the NL Championship Series—the same score as last year's NLCS opener with the opposite outcome—the Milwaukee Brewers will be aiming to protect home-field advantage in Game 2 at American Family Field. And the pitcher tasked with that responsibility is right-hander Logan Henderson (4:20 p.m., Fox or FS1). The rookie, who was injured at the end of the 2025 season, preventing him from pitching in the postseason, will look to build off his start in Game 2 of the NL Division Series. Against the San Diego Padres in his postseason debut, Henderson allowed two runs (one earned) over five innings, allowing two hits and walking three while striking out five in a 4-3 victory. Henderson had a terrific second half. In 12 starts after the All-Star break, Henderson had a 2.19 ERA over 70 innings, walking 12 and striking out 76 while limiting opponents to a .174 batting average. For the season, Henderson had a 2.47 ERA (3.32 FIP) with a 5.1% walk rate and 29.6% strikeout rate. He did face the Dodgers twice this season, with the Brewers coming out on top both times. In the May 22 game at Am Fam, Henderson tossed five shutout innings, giving up two hits and three walks, striking out seven. He was better in the Aug. 16 rematch at Dodger Stadium, going seven innings and allowing a run on three hits and a walk with six strikeouts. With this being Henderson's 20th MLB game, the Dodgers only have those two games to go off of. Shohei Ohtani is 2-for-5 with a walk and two strikeouts, while Mookie Betts, Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernandez are the only other Dodgers with hits off Henderson. Muncy hit a solo homer in the second game. Logan Henderson vs. Los Angeles Dodgers: Current Batters Table Rk Player B PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS SH SF IBB HBP GIDP 1 Shohei Ohtani L 6 5 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 .400 .500 .400 .900 0 0 0 0 0 2 Mookie Betts R 5 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .200 .200 .200 .400 0 0 0 0 0 3 Freddie Freeman L 5 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .200 .000 .200 0 0 0 0 0 4 Max Muncy L 5 5 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 .200 .200 .800 1.000 0 0 0 0 0 5 Andy Pages R 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 .000 .400 .000 .400 0 0 0 0 0 6 Kyle Tucker L 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 7 Teoscar Hernández R 4 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250 .250 .250 .500 0 0 0 0 0 8 Tommy Edman B 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 1 9 Dalton Rushing L 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 Provided by Stathead: Found with Stathead. See Full Results. Generated 10/11/2026. Opposing Henderson will be Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Last year's World Series MVP began his tremendous postseason run against the Brewers in Game 2 of last year's NLCS, pitching his first career complete game and the first of back-to-back postseason complete games. Yamamoto has already begun this postseason with a terrific start. In Game 2 of the AL Division Series vs. Atlanta, Yamamoto struck out 10 over seven innings, yielding one run on four hits and a walk. That is on the heels of a 2.53 ERA (3.33 FIP) over 28 starts in the regular season. He had a career-best 5.9% walk rate, but his strikeout rate was down to 25.7% after being at 29.4% in 2025. Like Henderson, Yamamoto faced the Crew twice this season and the Dodgers won both. On May 24 in Milwaukee, he went seven innings, scattering seven hits while giving up a run, walking one and striking out three. Then on Aug. 14 at Dodger Stadium, he struck out nine and allowed a run on four hits and two walks over six innings. Yamamoto's only other appearance against the Brewers came last year, when the Crew chased him after two-thirds of an inning, allowing five runs on four hits and two walks. Andrew Vaughn hit a three-run homer in his first at-bat in a Brewers uniform. Jake Bauers and Joey Ortiz are each 2-for-4 vs. Yamamoto. Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. Milwaukee Brewers: Current Batters Table Rk Player B PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS SH SF IBB HBP GIDP 1 Jackson Chourio R 7 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .143 .143 .143 .286 0 0 0 0 0 2 Jake Bauers L 6 4 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .500 .667 .500 1.167 0 0 0 1 0 3 William Contreras R 6 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .200 .333 .200 .533 0 0 0 0 1 4 Garrett Mitchell L 6 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 .200 .333 .200 .533 0 0 0 0 0 5 David Hamilton L 5 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .200 .200 .200 .400 0 0 0 0 0 6 Bo Naylor L 5 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 .200 .200 .200 .400 0 0 0 0 0 7 Joey Ortiz R 5 4 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 .500 .400 .750 1.150 0 1 0 0 0 8 Sal Frelick L 4 4 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 .250 .250 .500 .750 0 0 0 0 0 9 Brice Turang L 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .333 .500 .333 .833 0 0 0 0 1 10 Christian Yelich L 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .250 .000 .250 0 0 0 0 0 11 Luis Lara B 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 .500 .500 1.000 1.500 0 0 0 0 0 Provided by Stathead: Found with Stathead. See Full Results. Generated 10/11/2026. View full article

Image courtesy of Mark Hoffman-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images This is all new to Luis Lara. He wasn’t on the roster last year when the Milwaukee Brewers faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series. He wasn’t even really a glimmer in their eyes. One of the last places Lara figured he would be a year ago was as the starting right fielder for Game 1 of the 2026 NLCS. Heck, even in spring training that was probably a reach. But there the rookie was, in the starting lineup Sunday against the two-time defending World Series champs at American Family Field in what would be a 2-1 victory. He was batting eighth against Tarik Skubal, the winner of the last two AL Cy Young Awards. Lara was in the lineup because of Skubal. As a switch-hitter and platooning with Sal Frelick, a left-handed hitter, in right field, Lara was the choice. But Lara hasn’t done much offensively in his rookie season. In 61 games since coming up in early July, the 5-foot-7 speedy outfielder has put up a .246/.311/.325 slash line. Not far from his .257/.369/.343 mark last year at Double-A Biloxi. After all, he was known for his defense in center field, winning a minor-league Gold Glove for the entire minors a year ago. He has certainly excelled in that area this year with several sparkling plays. Lara — sharing the field with stars such as former MVPs Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman — made himself a significant part of Sunday’s Game 1. His first at-bat against Skubal went about as you would think, a two-time Cy Young winner facing a rookie playing on his biggest stage yet. Leading off the bottom of the third, Lara saw four pitches from Skubal, the first one a ball, then two pitches in the zone. Lara headed back to the bench after whiffing on a 97.6 mph sinker above the zone. As things would have it, Lara came up in a key situation in his second at-bat. That came in the bottom of the fifth. Garrett Mitchell drew a four-pitch walk and fellow rookie Cooper Pratt, who preceded Lara to the majors by about a month, bunted Mitchell to second. What did Lara learn from that first at-bat? Don’t let the big left-hander get on top of the count. On the very first pitch, the 21-year-old attacked a changeup and bounced it up the middle and into center. Mitchell scored easily and without a play. Lara had put the Brewers up 2-1. It was the biggest moment in the young career of Lara. He earned his spot on the major-league roster through an improved offensive approach this season, leading to a .321/.432/.470 slash line in his first 78 games at Triple-A Nashville. The offense, not to mention the spectacular defense, was the impetus for the Brewers to give Lara a seven-year, $31 million contract during the season. It was less than Pratt’s eight-year, $50,750,000 deal, but Pratt also plays a more important position, shortstop. Still, Lara came through when the Brewers needed him to. There will be a point, perhaps next year, where Lara could be more of an everyday player rather than platooning with Frelick. Due to splitting time, Lara came to the plate in just one game in the NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres. That was when he started Game 1 against left-hander Robbie Ray and went 0-for-3. His only other appearance came in the Game 3 loss, when he pinch-ran for William Contreras in the ninth inning. He sat and watched and learned in the other games. But there Lara was in Game 1. He will likely be back on the bench for Monday’s Game 2, when the Dodgers send World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, a right-hander, to the mound. Lara could get a pinch-hit opportunity against one of the Dodgers’ left-handed relievers, such as Alex Vesia and Tanner Scott. He will get another starting assignment when Blake Snell starts, probably in Game 3. Whether Lara comes through in that game is something to wait and see. For one night, though, Lara — on a stage with some of the biggest names in all of MLB, players with a proven postseason pedigree — stood tall as the one who had the hit that gave the Brewers a victory in Game 1. If the Brewers take down Goliath and advance to their second World Series, that hit becomes an even bigger part of franchise lore. View full article

The Milwaukee Brewers are running it back with the same 26-player roster they opened the postseason with. There were no changes to the Brewers' roster for the NL Championship Series, which begins Sunday with Game 1 at American Family Field (7:08 p.m., Fox). The Brewers are sending right-hander Jacob Misiorowski to the mound against Dodgers left-hander Tarik Skubal. That means an even split of position players and pitchers (13-13) for the best-of-seven. Also, the umpires for the NLCS were announced. Here is how the umps line up for Game 1: Edwin Moscoso behind the plate, crew chief Mark Wegner at first, Ryan Additon at second, Alan Porter at third, David Rackley in left field and John Tumpane in right field. Chris Segal sits out Game 1 but will be behind the plate for Game 2. View full rumor

Image courtesy of Denis Poroy-Imagn Images 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, two 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. View full article

Image courtesy of Benny Sieu-Imagn Images A matchup that has been anticipated since the first day of spring training is finally here. The Milwaukee Brewers vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the NL Championship Series. MLB's best team in the regular season vs. the two-time defending World Series champions in a repeat of last year's NLCS. And the starting pitchers are the perfect ones to begin this best-of-seven series. For the Brewers, that means right-hander Jacob Misiorowski. In his first full season in MLB, the Miz has taken his game to levels only dreamed of by Crew fans. Misiorowski is the presumptive NL Cy Young Award winner after going 16-5 and leading MLB in ERA (1.80), FIP (2.17), strikeouts (252) and WHIP (0.802). He had a 6.6% walk rate and 37.9% strikeout rate. Misiorowski faced the Dodgers once this year, on the Brewers' last West Coast road trip. That was Aug. 15 at Dodger Stadium, a 4-1 Brewers victory in which Misiorowski went six innings, allowing a run on five hits with a walk and six strikeouts. Of course, Misiorowski had a dominant performance in Game 4 of last year's NLCS, but that one came out of the bullpen. With left-hander Aaron Ashby used as an opener, Misiorowski came on in the first and went five innings, striking out nine and allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and one walk. With just two regular-season games against Misiorowski (one last year), the Dodgers have limited exposure to Misiorowski. Four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani is 2-for-5 with a solo homer and a walk. The only other Dodger with multiple hits vs. the Miz is backup outfielder Alex Call, who had both in this year's meeting. Jacob Misiorowski vs. Los Angeles Dodgers: Current Batters Table Rk Player B PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS SH SF IBB HBP GIDP 1 Mookie Betts R 6 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .167 .167 .167 .333 0 0 0 0 0 2 Freddie Freeman L 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 3 Shohei Ohtani L 6 5 2 0 1 1 2 1 2 .400 .500 1.400 1.900 0 0 0 0 0 4 Andy Pages R 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 5 Tommy Edman B 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 6 Max Muncy L 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .333 .000 .333 0 0 0 0 0 7 Alex Call R 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.000 2.000 0 0 0 0 0 8 Hunter Feduccia L 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 0 0 0 0 0 9 Teoscar Hernández R 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .500 .500 .500 1.000 0 0 0 0 0 10 Miguel Rojas R 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 1.000 1.500 0 0 0 0 0 11 Dalton Rushing L 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .500 .500 .500 1.000 0 0 0 0 0 12 Kyle Tucker L 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 .500 .000 .500 0 0 0 0 0 Provided by Stathead: Found with Stathead. See Full Results. Generated 10/10/2026. Meanwhile, the Brewers' task will be to solve two-time reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. While there won't be a third consecutive Cy Young in Skubal's future, the left-hander still was very good this year. Between the Detroit Tigers and Dodgers, who acquired him over a push from the Brewers at the trade deadline, Skubal had a 2.72 ERA (2.51 FIP) in 26 appearances with a 4.4% walk rate and 30% strikeout rate. Skubal missed a handful of starts in May as he had a new procedure called a nanoneedle to remove a bone chip from his left elbow. Skubal faced the Brewers twice this year, once with the Tigers and once with the Dodgers. In his Dodgers outing, Skubal went six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on seven hits and two walks with strikeouts on Aug. 16. The Brewers got four runs off him in six-plus innings, allowing seven hits with no walks and five RBIs. There are a few players with some small success vs. Skubal. William Contreras is 3-for-8 with a double, Jackson Chourio is 3-for-9 with a double, and Jake Bauers is 3-for-3 with an RBI. The bullpens for both teams should be in fine shape with three days off between series. Tarik Skubal vs. Milwaukee Brewers: Current Batters Table Rk Player B PA AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS SH SF IBB HBP GIDP 1 Gary Sánchez R 19 16 2 1 0 0 1 2 7 .125 .263 .188 .451 0 0 0 1 0 2 Joey Ortiz R 11 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 3 Jackson Chourio R 9 9 3 1 0 0 0 0 3 .333 .333 .444 .778 0 0 0 0 0 4 William Contreras R 9 8 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 .375 .444 .500 .944 0 0 0 0 1 5 Brice Turang L 8 8 2 0 1 0 1 0 4 .250 .250 .500 .750 0 0 0 0 0 6 Brandon Lockridge R 6 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 .200 .333 .200 .533 0 0 0 0 0 7 Sal Frelick L 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 1 8 Jake Bauers L 3 3 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 1.000 1.000 1.000 2.000 0 0 0 0 0 9 Luis Lara B 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 10 Garrett Mitchell L 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 11 David Hamilton L 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000 0 0 0 0 0 12 Bo Naylor L 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 13 Christian Yelich L 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 14 Bryse Wilson R 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 Provided by Stathead: Found with Stathead. See Full Results. Generated 10/10/2026. View full article

The Milwaukee Brewers are going conventional when it comes to their 26-man postseason roster. While some teams carry an extra position player or two in the early rounds of the playoffs, the Brewers split their 26-man roster evenly with 13 pitchers and 13 position players for the NL Division Series against the San Diego Padres. The teams open the best-of-five series Saturday with Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski facing Padres left-hander Robbie Ray. First pitch is 7:30 p.m. Perhaps the only surprising inclusion was left-hander Kyle Harrison, whose struggles knocked him out of the starting rotation. But he showed the Brewers enough in the final two weeks of the regular season in a relief role to be on the playoff roster. First baseman Andrew Vaughn had been activated from the 10-day injured list after he dealt with an illness at the end of the regular season. View full rumor

Considering the roster churn that strikes all Triple-A teams, winning games can be difficult. But with the quality and quantity of prospects in the Milwaukee Brewers’ system, the Nashville Sounds held their own during the 2026 season. Led by Brewer Fanatic Top 20 prospects Tyson Hardin (No. 8), a right-handed starter, and catcher Jeferson Quero (No. 9), infielder-center fielder Jett Williams (No. 12) and corner infielder Luke Adams (No. 14), the Sounds had a good first half and a not-so-good second half. That is pretty typical. Of course, in the first half, the Sounds, who finished second in the International League’s West Division at 43-32, also had two other top prospects in shortstop Cooper Pratt and center fielder Luis Lara, who were promoted to the Brewers and have played key roles in Milwaukee winning a fourth straight NL Central championship. The roster saw 74 players suit up for the Sounds this year (33 position players, 41 pitchers), including nine who made their MLB debuts (seven with the Brewers and two with other organizations). Also adding to the roster chaos is MLB players on rehab assignments, with nine Brewers hitting Nashville on the comeback trail. There was only one player who made it through the entire season on the Sounds’ active roster, corner infielder Brock Wilken. Not so coincidentally, Wilken led the Sounds in homers with 17 and RBIs with 80, but only had a slash line of .191/.319/.365 in 130 games. His RBI total was seventh-best in the International League, while his 152 strikeouts were fourth-most. There were high hopes for Jett Williams, the infielder and center fielder who was acquired along with right-handed starter Brandon Sproat from the New York Mets in the Freddy Peralta-Tobias Myers trade. Williams, however, never really took off, finishing the season with a slash line of .233/.340/.384 with nine homers and 41 RBIs. He did have a couple of stints on the seven-day injured list. Nashville finished 16th in the 20-team league with a .734 OPS, despite drawing the sixth-most walks in the league. Pitching was a much better story. The Sounds had the second-best ERA (4.33), fifth-most strikeouts and issued the fewest walks. Among the starting rotation standouts were right-hander Coleman Crow (3.59 ERA in 20 games), right-hander Tyson Hardin (4.58 ERA in 19 games) and right-hander Thomas Pannone (4.70 ERA in 23 games). Pannone had the standout performance of the season, perhaps in all of the minors, by turning in a perfect game on Sept. 7, the first solo nine-inning perfecto by any minor-leaguer since 2017. Among the noteworthy relief performances were right-hander Cameron Wagoner, who had a 0.56 ERA in 14 games with the Sounds after a 2.03 ERA in 19 games for the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers. The 11th-round draft pick in 2022 had a combined .167 opponent batting average and struck out 35.1% of the batters he faced while walking 6.5%. Right-hander Blake Holub had a 2.10 ERA in 50 appearances with five saves and two holds. Holub had a 28.1% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate. Despite all the turnover, the Sounds posted an overall record of 80-69, which was the sixth-best in the league. Stat Leaders League: International League West Division First half: 43-32, second place, 4 GB, plus-62 run differential Second half: 37-37, sixth place, 7½ GB, minus-26 run differential Hitting leaders (20 games minimum) Average: Luis Lara .321, Greg Jones .289, Eddys Leonard .287 Slugging percentage: Luke Adams .509, Darrien Miller .507, Leonard .502 OPS: Miller .942, Adams .927, Lara .902 Runs: Lara 67, Brock Wilken 60, Jett Williams 60 HRs: Wilken 17, Jefferson Quero 15, Adams 13 RBIs: Wilken 80, Quero 69, Akil Baddoo 47 Pitching leaders (10 games minimum) ERA: Cameron Wagoner 0.56, Craig Yoho 0.78, Brian Fitzpatrick 1.13 Strikeouts: Coleman Crow 102, Tyson Hardin 96, Thomas Pannone 85 WHIP: Yoho 0.65, Rob Zastryzny 0.86, Wagoner 0.94 Opponent average: Yoho .135, Jacob Waguespeck .145, Wagoner .175 Wins: Crow 9, Russ Knehr 6, Blake Holub 5, Pannone 5, Garrett Stallings 5 Saves: Holub 5, Will Childers 4, Yoho 4 View full article

Image courtesy of Maddie LoRae / Biloxi Shuckers If you like home runs, watching the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers provided plenty of entertainment in 2026. Not only did Brock Burke hit 30 for the Shuckers before going up to Triple-A Nashville late in the season, but Andrew Fischer came up to Biloxi and crushed 28 in 72 games, giving him a minors-best 48 during the regular season. Fischer, Brewer Fanatic’s No. 5 prospect, did something no other Brewers prospect had done in nearly 50 years in leading the minors in homers. The last one to do so was Bill Foley, who hit 34 in 1978 for Class A Burlington. Then, Fischer added two more homers in the Southern League playoffs, with the Shuckers sweeping the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, then losing in the best-of-three Championship Series. Surprisingly, the Shuckers did not lead the Southern League in homers, finishing fourth, six behind the leader. But they did finish second in runs scored and batting average, while leading in OPS. The pitching side was not as fortunate. The Shuckers finished seventh in the eight-team league in ERA and sixth in batting average allowed. Still, the Shuckers won the South Division first-half title with a 35-30 record with a plus-40 run differential, which was the best in the league. The second half was not so kind, even with Fischer added to the roster. Biloxi finished last at 31-38 and were one of three teams with a negative run differential at minus-37. While those are some of the numbers behind how the Shuckers performed, this was a roster full of prospects. And that begins with Jesus Made, the No. 1 overall prospect in baseball as well as at Brewer Fanatic. Made spent the entire season with the Shuckers and posted a slash line of .271/.344/.430 with 14 homers and 91 RBIs, tying for the Southern League lead. Whether Biloxi was Made’s final stop in the minors before joining the major-league roster is something for the Brewers’ front office to think about this offseason. Burke (Brewer Fanatic's No. 6 prospect) was named the Southern League MVP after posting a .285/.367/.603 slash line with 88 RBIs in addition to the 30 homers. Second baseman-outfielder Josh Adamczewski (No. 3 prospect), center fielder Braylon Payne (No. 4 prospect), right-handed starter Bishop Letson (No. 11 prospect), catcher Marco Dinges (No. 12 prospect) and right-handed starter Jaron DeBerry were among the prospects who were with Shuckers this season. Stat Leaders League: Southern League South Division First half: 35-30, first place, 1 game ahead, plus-23 run differential Second half: 31-38, fourth place, 12½ GB, minus-37, run differential Hitting leaders (20 games minimum) Average: Jacob Hurtubise .317, Damon Keith .300, Josiah Ragsdale .292 Slugging percentage: Ragsdale .698, Andrew Fischer .637, Blake Burke .603 OPS: Ragsdale 1.127, Fischer 1.026, Burke .970 Runs: Jesus Made 87, Dylan O’Rae 80, Burke 68 HRs: Burke 30, Fischer 28, Matthew Wood 18 RBIs: Made 91, Burke 88, Wood 67 Pitching leaders (10 games minimum) ERA: Cameron Wagoner 2.03, Tanner Gillis 3.32, Mark Manfredi 3.63 Strikeouts: Jareon DeBerry 138, Manuel Rodriguez 115, Bishop Letson 99 WHIP: Wagoner 0.79, Gillis 0.96, Jack Seppings 1.14 Opponent average: Wagoner .161, Ryan Birchard .168, Gillis .200 Wins: Rodriguez 13, DeBerry 8, Letson 7 Saves: Wagoner 7, Stiven Cruz 4, Sam Garcia 3, Edwin Jimenez 3 View full article

For the first time in Milwaukee Brewers history, they have a team captain. The Brewers on Saturday announced that Christian Yelich would be their captain and wear a C on the front of his uniform. Since joining the Brewers via a trade from the Miami Marlins before the 2018 season, the 34-year-old has produced on and off the field. Early on, it was a lot on the field, becoming the fourth player (fifth time) in Brewers history to win an MVP, taking the NL honor in his debut season with the Crew. Yelich followed that up with a better 2019, but a fractured kneecap in August sidelined him for the remainder of the season. That would be the first of a handful of injuries, mainly dealing with his back, that Yelich dealt with, with his offensive production not necessarily matching the nine-year, $215 million contract he signed in 2020. But he made up for whatever downswing in his stats with his leadership. Yelich has been a three-time All-Star with the Brewers, a three-time NL Silver Slugger and a two-time NL batting champion during his nine seasons in Milwaukee. He won an NL Gold Glove with the Marlins. The announcement was made to the team during a meeting before Saturday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Yelich also made sure to have the approval of Brewers legend Robin Yount, the Hall of Famer and two-time AL MVP. View full rumor