The Brewers already know the shape of the first two games in the National League Championship Series, and the matchup sets up pretty cleanly on paper.
Los Angeles is expected to open with two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal in Game 1 and then come back with two-time All-Star and 2025 World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2. Those are the Dodgers’ top two arms, and the order was really the only question. Milwaukee’s best answers are just as clear: Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson.
Milwaukee has not officially announced its starters for the series, but Misiorowski should be the choice in Game 1, with Henderson lined up for Game 2, the same setup the Brewers used in the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres. Misiorowski put together a season that makes the decision hard to complicate.
He finished with a franchise-best 1.80 ERA and led the league with 252 strikeouts in 174 2/3 innings pitched. There’s no real reason to get fancy here.
He gives Milwaukee its best shot to handle Skubal and steal the opener.
Misiorowski also has one useful data point against Los Angeles from the regular season. On Aug. 15, he beat the Dodgers after throwing six innings and allowing one earned run while striking out six.
That matters because the second game looks even trickier. Yamamoto is a right-hander, but he’s the more nerve-wracking matchup here for Milwaukee, especially with the way his postseason run has started. He owns a 2.14 career playoff ERA in 11 games, and he has won five straight and six of his last seven.
That’s why getting ahead in the series matters so much. If the Brewers can walk into Game 2 with a win already in hand, the pressure shifts.
And Henderson gives them a real chance to do that. He was excellent against the Dodgers during the regular season, making two starts and allowing one run in 12 innings for a 0.75 ERA.
He won both outings.
There’s also a lineup note for Game 2: Joey Ortiz should be in there. Against Yamamoto, Ortiz is 2-for-4 in his career. So the Brewers’ blueprint is pretty simple: Misiorowski in Game 1, Henderson in Game 2, and Ortiz in the lineup when Yamamoto takes the mound.
In Other News...
Brewers Have A Late-Inning Edge That Could Rattle The Dodgers
If there is a place the Brewers can feel especially good heading into this matchup, it is the late innings. Milwaukees bullpen has spent most of the season giving Craig Counsells old club a way to shorten games, and the mix at the back end has been built around Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby. Megill, acquired after bouncing around to a few organizations, has settled into a role that fits his power fastball and sharper command, while Uribe has given the Brewers a hard-to-hit look with elite run prevention traits and a ground-ball profile that plays in October.
That matters now because the Dodgers are the kind of opponent that can make any lead feel fragile, and Milwaukees relief group has already shown it can carry real weight when the games tighten. The Brewers do not need their bullpen to be flashy so much as dependable, and in a series where one clean inning can change the tone, that edge could become one of the most important parts of the matchup. The only question is how far that advantage can stretch once the biggest spots arrive. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Just Lost A Veteran Arm From Their Bullpen Depth Plan
The Braves bullpen depth chart took another hit this week with Ian Hamilton and Rob Zastryzny both electing minor league free agency. Hamiltons route back onto the market came after the Yankees non-tendered him and Atlanta brought him in on a non-guaranteed major league deal, but his time there never really got traction, with only limited work in the majors and at Triple-A before he was back on the move.
For Milwaukee, Zastryzny is the more familiar name, having previously pitched for the Brewers and a handful of other clubs as a left-handed depth option. His latest stretch never got much momentum either, as injury slowed him early and kept him from establishing a real role, leaving him to choose free agency rather than stay in the organization and wait for another opening. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Roster Philosophy Looks Smarter As Former Player Faces Wrong Fit
With the National League Championship Series rematch against the Dodgers on deck, the Brewers are once again looking like a club built with a clear identity. Milwaukee has long favored depth, flexibility and players who fit defined jobs over chasing the same kind of roster template everyone else is using, and that approach is part of why the team keeps showing up in October with a chance to make noise. It also makes former Brewers player Caleb Durbin an interesting measuring stick, because his game still speaks to the values Milwaukee tends to prize.
Durbin is the kind of contact-first, small-ball player who can help a lineup in the right setting, but he is not built around forcing the ball over the wall. Now he is in a different environment, where the discussion is less about leaning into what he does well and more about asking him to cover for other problems around him. For Milwaukee, it is another reminder that roster fit matters as much as raw talent, and that the Brewers way of doing business can look pretty sharp when contrasted with a club trying to make a mismatched piece serve a different purpose. [Read more 🡒]