We’re down to one day before Game 1 in Milwaukee, and the Brewers already have their starter lined up: Jacob Misiorowski. The Rays, on the other hand, are still keeping their cards close to the vest on the pitching side.
Drew Rasmussen looks like the obvious answer for Tampa Bay, but that may not be how the club opens the World Series. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the Rays could push Rasmussen to Game 2 to give him additional rest.
Under that plan, Nick Martinez would take the ball in Game 1, with Freddy Peralta lined up for Game 3. Rosenthal said Rays officials were “ deliberating over how to proceed ” yesterday.
The lineup could also feature a small shuffle at the top. Junior Caminero finished the ALCS in the cleanup spot, even though he began the series in his usual No. 3 position.
He hit third in all three games of the ALDS, then found himself in different spots against Cleveland, where Tampa Bay faced a right-handed opener in two of the last three games, with Parker Messick starting the middle game. Kevin Cash used three different hitters at No. 3 in those matchups: Chandler Simpson, Ryan Vilade, and Liam Hicks.
Milwaukee’s rotation, though, is heavily right-handed and rarely relies on openers, which points Caminero back to third against Misiorowski.
Christian Yelich should also be in the mix from the start. The newly named captain didn’t appear in Game 1 of the NLCS, when the Dodgers opened with left-hander Tarik Skubal and Pat Murphy answered with right-handed hitter Andrew Vaughn at designated hitter.
Vaughn’s at-bats after Skubal left came against left-handed relievers, leaving Yelich without a pinch-hit opening. He also stayed on the bench in Game 3 against Blake Snell.
The World Series setup looks much friendlier for Yelich, since the Rays have leaned on their rotation and that group is all right-handed: Rasmussen, Martinez, Peralta, and Griffin Jax.
In Other News...
William Contreras Fixed A Brewers Problem At Exactly The Right Time
William Contreras has become one of the Brewers most important pressure-point players, and not just because of his work at the plate. During the regular season, he was the most active catcher in baseball when it came to ABS challenges, piling up 185 of them while working through the same kind of ups and downs that come with any new system. His challenge success rate wavered over the summer, but the way he managed that responsibility gave Milwaukee a steady presence behind the plate as the season wore on.
The timing mattered because Contreras did not just carry the burden, he refined it. By September and into the postseason, his judgment on when to challenge improved noticeably, and his offensive approach sharpened alongside it. For a Brewers team leaning on every edge it could find, having its catcher settle into both roles at once helped solve a problem that could have been costly if it lingered much longer. [Read more 🡒]
Pat Murphy Faces One Brewers Call That Could Shape This Series
With Game 1 of the World Series looming against Tampa Bay, Milwaukee has already settled one major piece of the puzzle by naming Jacob Misiorowski as its starter. Even so, the Brewers are still sorting through the final details that come with October baseball, and the roster deadline arriving Friday morning leaves a narrow window for Pat Murphy to put the finishing touches on a team that has reached the sports biggest stage.
Murphy also has a few lineup calls to make once the Rays plan becomes clearer, especially in the spots where matchups can swing a game early. Right field and third base are among the areas under review, and the matchup with a likely Drew Rasmussen start gives Milwaukee a chance to lean into its platoon depth while trying to keep the right balance of defense, contact and pressure on the bases. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Fans May Revisit One Painful What If This World Series
Over the past six years, the Brewers and Rays have done plenty of business together, and a lot of those moves have quietly shaped both clubs. Milwaukee has seen familiar names move through that pipeline, from Willy Adames and J.P. Feyereisen to Mike Brosseau, Evan Reifert and Aaron Civale, while Tampa Bay has also added pieces in the back-and-forth that included Danny Jansen, Jadher Areinamo and Gregory Barrios. It has been the kind of trade relationship that can look routine in the moment and much more interesting in hindsight.
The most consequential deal came in 2021, when Adames arrived in Milwaukee and quickly became a central part of the Brewers' infield before later signing with the San Francisco Giants. Now the World Series has put an extra layer on that history, because one of the arms Tampa Bay received in that trade is in line to take the ball in Game 1 against the Brewers. For Milwaukee fans, it is the sort of matchup that turns an old transaction into a fresh reminder of how interconnected these teams have become. [Read more 🡒]