As the Brewers gear up for an NLCS rematch with the Dodgers, the bigger October story around the league is how many contenders have looked flat. The postseason picture in the American League says plenty: either the 84-win White Sox or the 85-win Guardians will get the chance to face the Rays in the ALCS, while the Yankees, Red Sox, and Astros have hardly made much noise.
That broader mess points back to roster construction, and the Brewers are the cleanest example of what it looks like when a team puts pieces together that actually fit. Too many other clubs end up with a built-in weakness that forces them to ask players to be something they’re not.
The Red Sox are running straight into that problem with Caleb Durbin.
Durbin came up in a press conference three times yesterday as either a sign of improvement or a possible source of more power for the lineup. That’s a strange place to land with a player whose best traits are much more obvious.
He thrives when he’s playing small-ball, using strong plate discipline and a knack for putting the bat on the ball when the pitch is anywhere near the zone. That leads to elevated contact rates and solid on-base percentages.
Add in elite defense at the hot corner and smart baserunning, and he becomes a useful player because of everything he does around the edges.
What he is not is a power hitter. Even with the Green Monster helping him this year, he still managed only 13 home runs.
His bat speed is minimal, his exit velocities are low, and he rarely barrels the ball up. Trying to squeeze more pop out of him to cover a lineup-wide flaw feels like asking for trouble.
That’s the bind Boston is in. The team’s recent prospect pipeline and trade efforts haven’t produced much star power in the lineup, and the result is a lack of thump when the games tighten up in October.
On a deeper roster, Durbin’s skill set would be a useful complement. In Boston, he’s being pushed toward a role that doesn’t match what the Red Sox need most.
Milwaukee, by contrast, didn’t even need to lean on Kyle Harrison or Shane Drohan once in its NLDS win. Instead, it worked from its pitching depth and used specific matchups against the Padres. That’s the difference: some teams are built to cover every base, and some are left trying to remake the players they already have.
In Other News...
Pat Murphy Made One Brewers Adjustment The Padres Never Matched
Pat Murphy spent the NLDS managing the series like a chess match, and the Brewers benefited from the way he handled his pitchers at Petco Park. Rather than asking his starters to grind through the Padres lineup a third time, he turned the game over early and kept the workload spread across a bullpen that had become one of Milwaukees biggest strengths.
The contrast with San Diego was hard to miss. Craig Stammen also showed a short leash with his starters, but the Padres never seemed as comfortable making the same leap into relief depth, and that difference showed up as the series tightened. Milwaukee kept finding answers in the late innings, which made Murphys willingness to trust his relievers look less like a gamble and more like the adjustment that decided the matchup. [Read more 🡒]
Pat Murphys Postgame Tribute Gave Brewers Fans Chills After NLCS Berth
Pat Murphy made sure Bob Uecker was part of the Brewers NLDS celebration, and it gave Milwaukees postseason run a deeply personal edge. After the club finished off the Padres and punched its ticket to the National League Championship Series, the manager paid tribute to the late franchise icon, tying Uecker to the moments that defined the series and to the kind of memorable, strange October baseball that has always fit his voice so well.
Uecker, the longtime Brewers broadcaster who died in January 2025, remains woven into the fabric of the organization, and Murphys postgame remarks reflected that bond in a way fans could feel. In a week when Milwaukee got the kinds of plays that can swing a series and change a season, the reminder of who has been there for so much of the franchises history added another layer to the celebration. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Just Became The Center Of Baseballs Salary Cap Fight
The payroll gap across baseballs final five teams has become hard to ignore, and for Milwaukee it sharpens a familiar contrast. The Dodgers sit at the top of the group with a $410 million payroll, while the Brewers are much lower on the spending ladder, a reminder that their path in October has rarely been built on the kind of financial muscle Los Angeles can flex.
Milwaukees place in this conversation matters because the sports broader labor debate is already hovering over the next few seasons. With talk of a possible 2027 lockout and renewed salary-cap discussions, the divide between the Dodgers and clubs like the Brewers is likely to keep coming up, especially if the postseason keeps serving as the clearest argument for both sides of baseballs spending fight. [Read more 🡒]