The Brewers are NOT Messing around...

This will define everything for the Milwaukee Brewers as they get another dance with the Los Angeles Dodgers. It's an NLCS repeat, but this time it might be a little bit different for the Brewers. A sweep does not seem as likely as this should be one of the best series in the playoffs this season. I welcome you in to this episode of Brewers Digest. I'm your host, Taylor Brettel. I'm joined alongside Dodgers Digest host, Jace Andrews. We got a very fun preview for you guys on this NLCS. Very excited to talk about it all. And we're just going to jump right into it. The Brewers are getting a revenge shot at the Dodgers in the NLCS. And Jace, I'll let you lead this off. How are you feeling having to face the Brewers a year later to team that has six more wins than last year's team? And the roster looks a little bit different because a decent amount of those guys went to the Red Sox. Yeah, I mean, it definitely is a much different face. You don't have Caleb Durbin on the team. You don't have, well, Monasterio, I guess, was also in that trade. So a couple of guys that, you know, you don't see on there. But the pitching is definitely still the same, still good. And you still got the Miz in the helm. So I'm going to be a little bit of a different face for most of the pitching. And we're going to see the best guys throughout this entire series, maybe unlike last year. But it's going to be a fun one. And I think we talked about it before this video. We talked about how the pitching is going to define one team or another. And it's just going to come down to who ends up having the better pitching. And I'm scared. I wanted the Padres. I'm going to be honest. Yeah, I mean, I feel like you want the Padres. It seemed like that Dodgers side, it seemed like the Padres was an easier opponent in their mind, and you always love to beat a division rival. But you have the Brewers, and the Brewers are 4-3 against the Dodgers this season. But we talked about this as well. You know, the Brewers were 6-0 against the Dodgers last season. Ended up not mattering. This 4-3 is a little bit more interesting because some of these games are after the trade deadline. So one of those games, you know, you face Scooble. You've gotten to see him. You've gotten the experience off him. So I think even though this is closer, I think it advantages the Brewers a little bit more. You see one more game, seven games compared to six, and you see the new guys like Scooble and some of the plays, you know, some in Milwaukee and some in L.A. also, just like last year. But looking at this on your side, Jace, what kind of what kind of pops out to you with a lot of those numbers on the right? Big thing is runs per game. I mean, as much as I don't want to give the Brewers credit, I didn't think their offense was as good as it is. And it is. I mean, 5.14 is the average runs per game. they're second in the MLB now the Dodgers you know not far behind with 4.94 and fourth but I always talk about how with the Brewers it was it was it was the pitching that scared me for the Padres it was the bats that quote-unquote scared me but I knew we could out we could we would out shoot out them every single time so kind of doing this video really opened my eyes see how good the offense actually is and also how small ball the offense becomes to make this kind of train run yeah I mean small ball that is Pat Murphy baseball as they like to call it in Milwaukee or Devil Magic as a lot of other people like to call it if you don't really follow the Brewers that's that's kind of their fun way of doing it but the Brewers got it done with small ball in the NL Central it's it's a division where everyone just you know they pick the Cubs to win it every single big outlet all had the Brewers second or third and you see what the Brewers are doing here on the bottom when it got in this August stretch it was neck and neck with Chicago then the back end of September they really took that big lead winning the division by double digits which again I don't think many people expect it at all but that 103 win season is a franchise record for the Milwaukee Brewers Pat Murphy last year 97 wins franchise record you lose some names you don't really add more and you get six more wins in what is arguably a harder slate this season I mean I think this Dodgers team is better than the Dodgers team last year that was obviously really really incredible it is just really wild to see it so it's gonna be a rematch though i mean we saw this last year like i just touched on we've seen this in 2020 we've seen this in 2018 um last year though Jace you know a 4-0 sweep for the Dodgers do you think it's going to be that easy for Los Angeles this season or is there something a little bit different about this team in Milwaukee, there's something different in Milwaukee but I also I will say this, I'd be shocked if the Brewers swept the Dodgers if the Dodgers swept the Brewers I wouldn't be shocked and a lot of that attributes to we are a better team than last year as much as the record doesn't show it, you have Trey Scubal, you have Kyle Tucker, you have Edwin Diaz, and while a couple of those names haven't really performed to the degree that we expected this season, they're coming alive in October. Edwin Diaz has gotten that closer position back after losing it and having injuries throughout the year. Scubal has looked okay at times, but looked good in the NLCS or NLDS rather, and then Kyle Tucker has really kind of lit the world on fire as of late, so it's definitely going to be interesting, but the offense for the Brewers is definitely scary, especially with Jackson Chirinos, yeah Jackson Chirinos I mean he has sparked the offense this October he's one of the best uh postseason performers in Major League Baseball right now this guy's only 22 years old but three years in the league three postseasons we saw him dominate in his in his rookie year he had you know a homer against the Mets that was really big took a lead got them the only win in a series that they unfortunately lost you go to last season 2025 um against the Chicago Cubs he was very big in that series then we saw him be big against the San Diego Padres so a little bit scary that you might see from from Jackson Chourio here now you see the playoffs you see like the little nitpick stuff maybe a little bit more steals maybe a little bit more walks all that stuff but Jackson Chourio he has hit the ball far over the fence he has the most uh postseason home runs in Brewers history which that bar wasn't really high because they haven't had many playoff teams but he has the most RBI out of any Brewer um he surpassed Ryan Braun Jackson Chourio also the youngest to 17, uh, something like youngest to 17 RBIs or RBIs before turning a certain age. Uh, long story short, Jackson Chourio did that in like 15 games. The next closest was Andrew Jones in 45. So this guy is absolutely electric and it's insane that you're young, that the star of your team is 22 years old. And that, that could be the biggest threat for Los Angeles. Yeah. I get a little, you know, concerned when I hear a guy who's younger than me is the offensive production for a team so that's a one little scary but ultimately i think he leads off what this team needs to do offensively if they want to win i mean in terms of the dodgers you control Chourio you control the offense in the same way for the Atlanta Braves it was Michael Harris Jr and a bunch of different scrubs now it's different because there's a lot better of a lineup behind Jackson Chourio than there was in Atlanta and they're hitting better in the postseason already we've seen that so if you stop Chourio doesn't mean you're gonna automatically win the series as if you stopped Harris you were winning the series last time but definitely gotta figure out what Chourio wants to do and make sure he can't do it yeah and something i want to talk about so we're talking about the postseason but looking at the brewers hot and cold before you got to the postseason is really really interesting looking at some of the numbers right here because you look at the top Bryce Turang one of the best batters for the brewers in that stretch in the postseason nowhere to be found he has been nowhere to be found for the milwaukee brewers That has been a big concern because he was so hot at the end of September leading into October with 20 homers, 100 RBI, the first Brewer to ever do that, the first second baseman to do that since I think Marcus Simeon in 2023. But in October, he has not really shown up. So you look and you look at this graph right here. A lot of these names have flipped. Sal Frelick, an underrated bat. Christian Yelich, an underrated bat. It's crazy to say he's your captain, but regular season, he's become a whole different demon in the postseason, which we haven't seen. years before Jackson Chourio kind of in that middle ground that dude is at the top so looking at how those last 15 games were you know to end the season compared to the playoffs it's almost flipped which I think makes this Brewers team a little bit unpredictable if you have your guys that have struggled a lot starting to climb up you're kind of hoping your guys that are at the top can kind of stay there it's kind of flipped on both sides but it gives it a little bit of an interesting view but I want to really look at Christian Yelich because that's a guy that has had a lot of postseason struggles Fox Sports love to flash that graphic of he's 0 for his last blank since an RBI in the postseason you have to go back to 2018 well he got it um you see the approach right here obviously middle middle that's going to be where he loves to hit it the most but Christian Yelich batting from the left side when they pitch him uh middle outside that is an interesting location that's something that I think the Padres just they they did not figure out I don't know what they were what they were doing they're throwing him some fastballs on that outer side and that's how he got his RBI and even the hard double play he had to end the game and their one loss in the DS was thrown on that outside middle square and he hit 107 miles an hour uh Jace if you became a scout for the Dodgers I would just show the clips against the Padres and say literally do the opposite of this throw the throw the stuff below the zone that he chases all the time it's interesting the approach obviously is a little different but it seemed like the Padres had that opposite and that's something that Dave Roberts and the pitching staff and everyone needs to focus on yeah it's very funny because when you talk about the Padres and the reason that I you know wanted to play them they don't have a scouting report they don't know what a scouting report is and I swear Greg Stanton doesn't care to share the scouting report that he even doesn't get to his team Garrett Mitchell cannot hit certain pitches and they didn't throw that to him they decided here they decided here you go Christian Yelich cannot hit certain pitches and they decided not to throw that to him it was it was insane did you see yeah look at this slugging .235 on the up and in you see a single up and in that whole series nope zero the only ones i saw the only ones i saw he fouled off and they gave up on it he fouled off like to the ground and foul and they gave up on it uh look at the corners they decided to just throw it down the middle yes yes so that was uh that was a shocker obviously you will miss your spot from time to time but i want to look at the brewers um you know how how will they score like like how will they do it this is a a good list that we have right up here i think i i you see the three bullet points i want to jump to the third one if the brewers can get to the position to test the los angeles bullpen i think they're in a good position we saw the brewers last year we saw yamamoto throw nine innings we saw blake snell throw eight innings we didn't see the dodgers bullpen which is maybe their one weakness it's hard to put the word weakness and dodgers in the same sentence um but they have some guys where you know the game might be a little bit uncomfortable and we saw that in the success earlier in this season for the milwaukee brewers So Jace, that's my question to you, uh thinking of this bullpen, you know Edwin Diaz completely blew one of the games that the Brewers won and that one came in Los Angeles is the bullpen looking a little bit different now that it's October and every game really counts more yeah I mean Edwin Diaz is now the closer he got taken that back um Eduardo Rodriguez is a fantastic name to watch and it's been really an option honestly late in the game Vesia had a great appearance in the NLDS and game number four the clinching game definitely less guys than last year that I'm you know okay with but I also say that because last year we also didn't have anybody so it's kind of hard to be comfortable with anybody this year either so I think it's going to be interesting to see and I mean we talked about it on you know earlier before I think if the Brewers can force the Dodgers starters into tough situations and get into the bullpen early puts the Dodgers in a much worse spot than the Brewers yeah and I think a big thing too is when they go on the road you have those three straight games but you can't jump to the road games without talking about Jacob Mizerowski and what we're going to see in game one uh he's going to get the nod in game one totally expected it uh he was warming up in the bullpen in game four against the Padres that maybe put a wrinkle into something if they would have needed him there but Jacob Mizerowski I mean I I want to say one of the best starters in the league maybe it looks a little Brewers bias I have to say the best starter in the league now postseason whole different demon I I would probably give that nod to Yamamoto he seems the most untouchable in the postseason but uh Jacob Mizorowski if there was one Cy Young award I say that he gets it obviously is the NL and the AL but the thing that's really interesting about me um or to me he obviously throws the hardest fastball in the game and he has the best extension in the game so it's going to be effective but throwing one pitch that moves pretty straight 63 percent of the time and still being able to dominate others is what is really impressive to me and what he's done this season a lot he's mixed in that slider just a little bit and his numbers this year are absolutely insane but we did see him get into a pitch count struggle against the Padres they fouled off 31 pitches through four innings Mizorowski was only able to go four innings with what like 88 pitches so jace if i if i'm the dodgers um you might want to steal the one the one thing i think we can agree on with the Padres strategy they were just fouling off the hard pitches to get the pitch count up and they were sitting when he gave him an offspeed pitch and they and they were targeting it do you think that's something that the dodgers could do or maybe they'll change it up a little bit with the bats that they have there no i mean dave roberts has always said that the goal is to score off who's in front of you it's not about trying to get to the bullpen as much as I say that it's a big thing for the Brewers to do the Dodgers they've been here they're they're trying to go back to back to back what they want to do is score against who's on the mound and so if Mizorowski's there it doesn't matter they're going to try and score and Mizorowski might go all eight innings but if he gives up two runs and you know you lose two one then the Dodgers feel like they won that game and they will yeah yeah it's it's it's going to be definitely a tight series we're going to get to the predictions in one second but before that the Brewers bullpen uh to your point you know if you get Mizorowski out there who is in that Brewers bullpen this is a Brewers bullpen that was electric in that series against San Diego it's the reason they won the series in my opinion the offense they did their job but that bullpen i mean all the way down to um Aaron Ashby that we saw you see uh that he is uh he's he's uh pretty taxed because he went three innings in that game for a huge middle relief the Brewers used him last year more as an opener that didn't work i like this position they have him in a little bit more it's nice to have a three inning guy like that, or even a DL Hall, uh, Chad Patrick, we haven't seen the Brewers have a lot of these guys that can go two to three innings, which I think is a little bit more of an advantage than what they had last year. You go to the injured list right here to not many injuries. Brandon Woodruff's an interesting name that they could maybe put on the, uh, 60-day roster that that's an intriguing Could he come back? Likely not. Zerpa has been out the year. Fitzpatrick's been out most of the year. Anderson, he did not get the nod. They gave it to Kyle Harrison. So, Jace, looking at this bullpen, I'm not sure how much you were tuned in to the Padres-Brewers, but I have to believe a lot because you were facing the winner of that series, and one of them was your division rival. What did you really see from that Brewers bullpen that the Dodgers might have to deal with? If we get to Trevor Miguel, it's over. I'm scoring against Harry Bay, I'm scoring against Ashby, I'm scoring against Hall, I'm scoring against Romero. I think we can. The only thing that scares me is Trevor Miguel. I'm going to be so honest. I also, the Dodgers in their history, especially since Jojo Romero used to be a Cardinal, they light him up. So if he gets put in, I'm expecting a runner too when he gets put in. All right, well, that's going to have to take us to our series predictions. It's going to be an interesting one. I'll start with the guest first, and then I'll bring us home. So Jace, who do you have and in how many games? I said it here. I think the Dodgers are the only team that can sleep over. They're not going to do that. That's not the way the NLCS goes. I know it went that way last year. different teams different situations i do think the dodgers win i think that their pitching ultimately is just more deep than the brewers pitching even their bullpen is you know maybe not as deep but i just they're starting caliber pitchers rookies a socket can put you on the bullpen i say they win in six and i say that they do have to go back to milwaukee to get that final win but ultimately i'd probably say the brewers win the first game the dodgers win the next three and then the brewers win the fifth and then we win the sixth don't mind i shouldn't say don't mind that prediction i understand that prediction there you get there i'm gonna i'm gonna i'm gonna have to go brewers in seven the big thing this is a huge ask obviously the brewers got to start up 2-0 in this series they have to win both home games and that's a huge ask because you're gonna face someone like Yamamoto most likely in game two you're gonna have to try to beat Schubel you at least have Misiorowski for that and then Henderson who's a rookie is gonna have to try to beat Yamamoto the brewers have to go up 2-0 to put themselves in a good position if you split at home and then uh even take one on the road you're you're going to be down in a series three to two and then having to win the last two in a row is going to be very tough so i'm gonna go brewers in seven i'm not even greedy i'm not saying they will go to 2-0 i'm saying they kind of have to go to 2-0 sounds obvious you'd like a 2-0 lead and not a 1-1 or an 0-2 but the brewers have to put themselves in front i don't think this is a series where they can win multiple games from behind so i'll go brewers in seven to close it out but that's all that we have for this NLCS preview obviously a lot more content will be on the way for hopefully what is one of the most exciting playoff series in a while Jace i appreciate your time we'll definitely be talking a lot throughout this series that hopefully goes to a game seven but we'll have to wait and see i'll see you guys later