Dave Roberts didn’t hide what stood out to him most after the Dodgers were swept out of the National League Championship Series by Milwaukee: the Brewers were playing with an edge Los Angeles never quite matched.
On the “Baseball Tonight with Buster Olney” podcast, the Dodgers manager said the Brewers looked like a team that was willing to empty the tank on every pitch, every at-bat and every win. He also pointed to that mentality as a big reason Milwaukee ended up as the 2026 World Series champions.
“I was telling my wife after we got eliminated, I know our guys are hungry, but the Brewers were starving. And you don’t know how that’s going to translate into performance, whether it’s anxiousness, feeling the pressure, or it’s willing to die for every pitch, every at bat, every win.”
Roberts said the Dodgers had spent much of the season talking about motivation, especially with a chance to chase history. Los Angeles had won back-to-back titles, and the possibility of becoming the first National League team to win three straight World Series only added to the conversation around whether the club could stay sharp.
But the Brewers, he said, brought something different.
“Typically, getting eliminated, it’s hard to sit back and watch and feel like you should be there, so it hurts a little bit more,” he said. “This year’s different. I’ve really loved the way the Brewers have played.
He also used one particular play early in the series to illustrate what he meant. Roberts recalled Dodgers reliever Edgardo Henriquez throwing a fastball at 101 or 102 mph “at Cooper Pratt’s face, on accident; it got away from him.”
Pratt got back up, returned to the box and then lined a ball over the second baseman’s head.
“That kind of encapsulates what the Brewers are about,” Roberts said.
Milwaukee finished its playoff run 11-2, and Roberts made it clear he has enjoyed watching them go on that kind of march, even with his own club on the other side of it.
“For me, as a baseball guy, Buster, it’s been fun to watch these guys play,” he said.
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