The Dodgers are heading into Milwaukee with their eyes on the details, because this series has the kind of edges that can decide everything. The Brewers are back in an NLCS rematch, and after getting swept out of the postseason by Los Angeles last year, they arrive with the No. 1 seed in the National League, 103 regular season wins, and a first-round bye to show for it. Then they knocked off the San Diego Padres with two late-inning wins, including a walk-off, and they did it looking every bit like a team that believes it can push the Dodgers.
That’s the backdrop for a matchup that already has plenty of tension built in. The Dodgers are still the team everyone is chasing, but Milwaukee has the kind of profile that can make life uncomfortable for them. If the Brewers are going to turn this into a real fight, it starts with a few names the Dodgers are definitely studying.
Jacob Misiorowski is the obvious headliner on the mound, and he’s expected to be right in the middle of the conversation for NL Cy Young voting after a season built on a 1.80 ERA and 252 strikeouts. He finished just two wins shy of the Triple Crown.
The Dodgers know the stuff well enough by now, too. Misiorowski has faced them three times in his career, including in last year’s NLCS, and he’s generally left them searching.
That hasn’t meant he’s been untouchable every time. In his first start against Los Angeles on July 8, 2025, he worked six one-run innings and struck out 12 Dodgers.
In the 2025 NLCS, he lasted five innings and gave up two runs, though only one was earned. His latest outing, against the Padres in Game 1 of the NLDS, was a little messier: four innings, 88 pitches, and two earned runs before he was lifted.
The fastball had extra life, but the damage came on the breaking stuff.
That’s where the Dodgers will try to make him work. During their August swoon, they weren’t handling fastballs especially well, but there’s a path here if they can stay back and wait on the rare Misiorowski slider or cutter, especially when he’s already shown he can be vulnerable with those pitches.
Milwaukee’s most dangerous bat might be Jackson Chourio, and the numbers tell a strange story. On paper, he has been one of the Brewers’ weaker postseason hitters in batting average and OPS.
In practice, he’s driven the offense when it mattered most. He leads the team with six RBI, and no one else is close.
William Contreras and Sal Frelick are tied for second with two apiece.
Chourio has been at the center of everything in this October run. In Game 1 against the Padres, he hit a game-tying two-run homer in the third.
In Game 2, he delivered the walk-off with a two-out, two-run single. Game 3 brought a tying sacrifice fly.
Game 4 gave Milwaukee a go-ahead single. He’s the kind of player who keeps popping up in the biggest moments, even if the overall line doesn’t always look loud enough to match the impact.
The Dodgers have seen him enough to know he’s not easy to solve. Against Los Angeles in the regular season, Chourio hit .293 with a .728 OPS in 20 games.
But the Brewers may not care much about split numbers if he keeps doing what he’s done this month. The safest plan may be the simplest one: don’t put runners on for him.
That matters because both offenses have left different fingerprints on this postseason. The Brewers are 8-for-35 with runners in scoring position, while the Dodgers are 1-for-16.
Los Angeles’ issues in those spots showed up when they lost Game 2 to the Atlanta Braves, leaving runners stranded on second or third. Seven of their nine runs came on home runs, with Andy Pages’ two-run single in Game 4 standing as the lone exception.
That fits the Dodgers’ usual shape: plenty of power, plenty of streaky stretches. Milwaukee isn’t built that way.
The Brewers tied the Los Angeles Angels for second-to-last in team homers, but they’re patient, they draw walks, and they move runners one base at a time. Small ball is the lane they’re comfortable in.
And that’s why this series has the feel of a chess match as much as a showdown. The Dodgers bring what might be the best starting pitching in baseball. The Brewers will spend the whole night looking for a crack to pry open.
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