The Dodgers are heading into the NLCS with a pitching plan that could make life miserable for Milwaukee right away.
Dave Roberts said Friday that Tarik Skubal will start Game 1 on Sunday and Yoshinobu Yamamoto will follow in Game 2 on Monday, giving Los Angeles two of baseball’s most accomplished arms to open a series between the National League’s top regular-season teams. The Dodgers are four wins away from getting back to the World Series, and their rotation is shaping up to be the biggest hurdle in the Brewers’ path.
Skubal will take the ball at American Family Field after a sharp outing against the Atlanta Braves in the Division Series. The two-time Cy Young Award winner gave up one run on two hits across six innings in Game 1, struck out seven and walked two. Los Angeles landed him in a blockbuster August trade with the Detroit Tigers, adding yet another ace to a staff that already featured Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow.
Starting Skubal in Game 1 matters because Milwaukee has home-field advantage. The Brewers won 103 games in the regular season, while the Dodgers finished with 100, and an early road win would instantly put pressure on a club that’s been tough to beat all year. Skubal’s strikeout stuff and ability to keep runners off base could be especially important against a Brewers lineup built around Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio and William Contreras.
Yamamoto gives Los Angeles another heavy-duty option in Game 2. Against Atlanta, the right-hander punched out 10 over seven innings and allowed one run on four hits in a win that swung the Division Series back in the Dodgers’ favor.
That outing also added to his postseason résumé, which already includes World Series MVP honors in 2025. With the series shifting to Dodger Stadium after the first two games, Roberts gets a pair of starters who can dictate the tone early.
Milwaukee has its own young arms it can lean on, including Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson, but matching Los Angeles pitch for pitch is a different level of test. Roberts also said Friday the Dodgers were considering adding another pitcher to the NLCS roster, which would require dropping a position player.
There is at least one roster question still hanging over Los Angeles. Veteran utility man Miguel Rojas left Game 3 against Atlanta with lower back discomfort, and while he took part in baseball activities Friday, Roberts did not confirm whether he’ll be available for the series.
The Dodgers beat Atlanta in four games. The Brewers did the same to San Diego.
Now the teams meet in the NLCS for the second straight postseason, with Game 1 set for Sunday at 8 p.m. ET and Game 2 on Monday at 5 p.m.
ET. Los Angeles has plenty of offense, including Shohei Ohtani, but the way this series turns may come down to the arms Roberts chose to put on the mound first.
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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 🡒]