For all the talk heading into the NLCS, the Brewers were supposed to need perfection from Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson to have any shot at knocking off the Dodgers. That was the cleanest path, the loudest warning, and the expectation hanging over Milwaukee’s rotation going into a rematch with the reigning back-to-back World Series champions.
Instead, the Brewers swept Los Angeles anyway.
That’s what makes the four-game win so striking. Misiorowski and Henderson were not at their sharpest, yet Pat Murphy’s club still sent Dave Roberts’ star-heavy roster packing and punched its ticket to the World Series for the first time since 1982.
Misiorowski’s Game 1 outing looked a lot like the one he had in Game 1 of the NLDS. The Dodgers, much like the Padres before them, made him work for everything.
They fouled off pitches, extended at-bats and pushed his pitch count up while he didn’t have the same fastball carry he showed during the regular season. Late-season fatigue may have played a role there, and the numbers tell the story: he averaged 13-14 inches of induced vertical break on his four-seamer in the postseason after sitting in the 15-16-inch range during the regular season.
That difference mattered. Los Angeles was able to put more balls in play, foul off pitches they usually wouldn’t touch and force Misiorowski into a 94-pitch night that lasted just 4.1 innings.
He also issued three walks, one of which came around to score. The final line - one run allowed, five strikeouts, five hits - doesn’t look disastrous, but it was far from the dominant version Milwaukee had come to expect from its ace.
Henderson’s Game 2 start was shaky in a different way. In his second career postseason start after his debut in the NLDS, the rookie right-hander allowed two earned runs on two walks and three hits over four innings. His velocity was up slightly and the movement on his pitches was normal, but the damage mostly came from his own mistakes.
A wild pitch in the first inning let Mookie Betts reach third and set up a Teoscar Hernández sacrifice fly for the opening run. Then Henderson threw away a pick-off attempt to first base in the third inning, handing Los Angeles its second run.
Two innings later, after fielding a sacrifice bunt, he made another throwing error and was pulled immediately. That left him charged with two earned runs but four total runs caused entirely by his own unforced mistakes.
Put the two starts together, and Milwaukee’s top rotation duo covered 8.1 innings, allowed five runs, gave up eight hits and walked five. On paper, that’s ordinary. In the context of a sweep over the Dodgers, it’s part of what makes the Brewers’ run even more impressive.
There’s a pessimistic read here, of course: maybe these two starts are a preview of what’s coming in the World Series. But the stronger case is that Misiorowski and Henderson’s NLCS work was the exception, not the rule. Their 2026 season body of work points in the other direction, and aside from Misiorowski’s reduced fastball ride - something worth watching - their stuff looked normal enough to keep confidence high.
That’s the real takeaway for Milwaukee. The Brewers didn’t need perfect starts to beat the Dodgers.
They just needed enough to stay in the fight, and they got that. With the bullpen throwing the way it is right now, those two don’t have to be flawless.
They only need to give Milwaukee a chance.
And with seven full days off before the Fall Classic, there’s no extra pressure for either pitcher to pile up innings. If Misiorowski and Henderson are back to their usual selves in the World Series, the Brewers’ outlook gets even brighter.
They already swept the champions without peak performances from their top two starters. If those two hit their ceiling now, Milwaukee’s confidence should only grow from there.
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