In the wake of his team’s National League Division Series defeat of the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman was asked who he preferred to face in the NL Championship Series.
asserted
he → ask → Series
The beer-soaked executive smiled.
“I just want chaos,” he said.
asserted
he → soak → chaos
Alas, Friedman’s wish wouldn’t be granted.
asserted
wish → grant → ?
Hours after his team booked its place in the NLCS, the Brewers did the same by winning Game 4 of their NLDS in San Diego –– avoiding a potential Game 5 that would have worn down both teams’ pitching.
asserted
that → book → pitching
Instead, this year’s NLCS will be a rematch of last season’s one-sided affair, with the Dodgers and Brewers meeting again after the Dodgers’ pennant-clinching sweep last year.
asserted
Dodgers → meet → sweep
This time, the storylines will be similar: The Brewers trying to vanquish the defending champions. Trying to negate the near $300 million disparity between the two teams’ payrolls.
asserted
Brewers → try → payrolls
The Dodgers, of course, will be favored.
asserted
Dodgers → favor → course
They will be pegged to return to the World Series in search of an historic three-peat.
asserted
They → peg → peat
Game 1 is set for Sunday at American Family Field in Milwaukee.
asserted
Game → set → Milwaukee
In the meantime, here is a look at how the clubs match up ahead of the best-of-seven series:
At the plate
Getting on base
The Dodgers did most of their damage in the NLDS via the long ball.
asserted
did → match → ball
But they also kept the Braves’ pitching staff under constant stress; taking competitive at-bats, driving up pitch counts, and creating a string of opportunities that they finally started to cash in.
asserted
they → keep → opportunities
Their 1-for-16 mark with runners in scoring position wasn’t good.
asserted
mark → score → position
But that’s also part of the reality of postseason baseball (case in point, they held the Braves to 1-for-23 in such situations).
asserted
they → ’ → situations
After the offense’s slump through much of the second half of the season, most of their key hitters seem to be in a good place with both their approach and their swing.
asserted
most → seem → approach
The Brewers, of course, also pride themselves on grinding out at-bats, putting opposing pitchers (and defenses) under stress, and manufacturing consistent offense.
asserted
Brewers → pride → offense
In the regular season, Milwaukee led the majors with a .258 team batting average (one point better than the Dodgers), a .341 on-base percentage (three points better than the Dodgers), and a 10.6% walk rate (half a percentage point better than the Dodgers), trailing only the Cubs as the majors’ highest-scoring offense.
asserted
Milwaukee → lead → offense
And while Jackson Chourio is their only true star hitter –– batting .291 in the regular season before producing a memorable walk-off single in Game 2 of the NLDS against star Padres closer Mason Miller –– the Brewers have nothing but tough outs behind him.
asserted
Brewers → bat → him
In the NLDS, the club looked like it did early in the year, when it led the NL with 118 home runs from March to June (before ranking 11th with just 86 the rest of the way).
asserted
it → look → way
Their eight home runs against the Braves gives them the most of any team in this year’s playoffs thus far.
asserted
runs → give → playoffs
That included three from Max Muncy (the franchise’s all-time postseason home run leader), two from Freddie Freeman (after he had hit just one over the final 66 games of the regular season) and one apiece from Teoscar Hernández, Kiké Hernández and Kyle Tucker.
asserted
he → include → Hernández
Even with Ohtani still struggling, and most of their regulars on the wrong side of 30, they offered a reminder that they still possess plenty of pop at the plate.
asserted
they → struggle → plate
The Brewers, on the other hand, are one of the least-dangerous home run-hitting teams in the majors, finishing with the second-fewest during the regular season this year.
asserted
Brewers → hit → season
Left-handed-hitting slugger Jake Bauers topped the club with 26 long balls.
asserted
Bauers → hit → balls
Chourio added 25, Brice Turang had 21 and William Contreras’ 18 made him the only other with more than a dozen.
asserted
him → add → dozen
That proved to be a problem in last year’s NLCS, when the Brewers hit just one home run while getting shut down by the Dodgers’ star-studded pitching staff.
And while they don’t rely on big flies, whether or not they can slug more consistently against the Dodgers this year could be key to the rematch.
uncertain
slug → prove → rematch
The Brewers have the presumptive Cy Young Award winner in Jacob Misiorowski leading their staff, with the flamethrowing right-hander coming off a breakthrough regular season in which he had a 16-5 record, 1.80 ERA and MLB-most 252 strikeouts.
asserted
he → have → record
Ex-Dodger Dustin May was added at the trade deadline, but had an ERA of 5.65 in his 10 Brewers starts.
uncertain
May → add → starts
Robert Gasser is their only other healthy starter who had an ERA under 4.00.
asserted
who → have → 4.00
Even more disconcerting: Misiorowski hardly looked dominant in Game 1 of the NLDS, needing 88 pitches to get through four innings in a two-run, four-hit, six-strikeout start.
asserted
Misiorowski → look → start
The Dodgers, meanwhile, boast the best rotation in baseball.
asserted
Dodgers → boast → baseball
Tarik Skubal (six innings, one run, seven strikeouts) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (seven innings, one run, 10 strikeouts) both threw gems in the NLDS.
asserted
Skubal → throw → NLDS
And though Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow walked five batters each against the Braves, they still combined for 8 ⅓ innings and only two runs allowed.
asserted
they → walk → innings
Edge: Dodgers
Bullpen
The Dodgers are feeling good about their relief corps, which gave up only four runs in 14 ⅔ innings during their NLDS defeat of the Braves.
asserted
which → feel → Braves
They might have finally identified a closer in Edwin Díaz, who closed out both Games 3 and 4 of the series.
uncertain
who → identify → series
Tanner Scott bounced back from a home run he allowed in Game 1, cementing himself as the primary set-up man.
asserted
he → bounce → man
And all their other leverage options –– from Alex Vesia to Evan Phillips to Edgardo Henriquez and Brock Stewart –– have entrenched themselves as trustworthy options.
asserted
options → entrench → options
It might not be quite as strong a group as the one that carried the Dodgers to their 2024 World Series championship.
uncertain
that → carry → championship
But, for now, it at least looks reminiscent.
asserted
it → look → ?
Hard-throwing setup man Abner Uribe was equally effective, with a 1.97 ERA in the regular season.
asserted
Uribe → throw → season
And beyond them, Milwaukee has answers for almost any matchup problem, from left-handers Aaron Ashby (3.12 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 89 ⅓ innings) and DL Hall (1.91 ERA, fourth-lowest among southpaw relievers in the majors), to right-handed swingman Chad Patrick (3.40 ERA).
asserted
Milwaukee → have → Patrick
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
