The Brewers’ best path through this NLDS may come down to one power arm meeting two power bats in the biggest spots.
Milwaukee is set to face a San Diego lineup that just rolled past the Cubs, and the matchup the Brewers have to win starts at the top. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado were the engine in that series, combining for seven hits and two home runs, and Pat Murphy’s club will need a plan for them when the game tightens up.
That’s where Abner Uribe comes in. The hard-throwing righty is the likeliest Brewer to draw the key late-inning assignments against Tatis and Machado, and that should be true regardless of the inning. Uribe handled the final two frames in last year’s NLDS and earned his only postseason save by closing out the Cubs, so this stage won’t be new to him.
His stuff fits the assignment. Uribe leans on a sinker that averages just under 99 MPH and has serious arm-side run, then pairs it with an upper-80s slider that moves the other way just as sharply. Against right-handed hitters in 2026, he has been especially tough, holding them to a .136/.213/.182 slash.
That matters because the Brewers aren’t just trying to survive Tatis and Machado. Ty France also sits near the top of the San Diego order, and Milwaukee needs Uribe to help quiet that whole pocket of the lineup.
There isn’t much of a paper trail between Uribe and San Diego’s stars. He has faced Tatis and Machado only seven times across four seasons, and they’ve gone a combined 2-for-6 with a walk. Still, that tiny sample could mean a lot more now that the stakes are postseason outs.
Craig Stammen has an obvious counter. He could break up Tatis and Machado with a left-handed hitter, and the options for that spot are Gavin Sheets, Jackson Merrill, or Dustin Harris. Uribe’s presence may well shape that choice before the game even gets there.
The Padres also don’t have a deep left-handed bench to work with. Their NLDS roster includes only five left-handed hitters, and while Uribe is less dominant against them, he still keeps lefties under a .700 OPS.
That gives Murphy some flexibility, especially after Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson start games, when San Diego can’t easily spring a left-handed pinch-hitter on him. The other two starts, likely Shane Drohan and Robert Gasser, could push Murphy toward his right-handed relievers sooner than usual because of how right-handed the Padres roster is.
If Uribe performs the way he did during the regular season, Milwaukee’s chances of reaching the National League Championship Series improve a lot. After a 103-win season, that’s exactly where the Brewers want to be.
In Other News...
Padres Have Every Right To Be Furious About This Game 1 Twist
A strange break in Game 1 of the NLDS put the Padres in an early hole before the baseball really had a chance to breathe. Ty France sent a ball skyward at American Family Field, it struck a cable supporting the roof, and Jackson Chourio came down with it for an out. It was the kind of play that makes everyone in the ballpark stop and check the rule book, even if the answer winds up being more mundane than the reaction.
Under the parks ground rules, the ball stays live if it hits the cable above fair territory, so the ruling was correct. Still, the setting only added to the frustration for San Diego, with MLB controlling whether the roof is opened or closed in the postseason and the roof closed for this game. For a team trying to seize an early edge in October, it was the sort of twist that leaves plenty of room for argument, even if not much room for protest. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Open NLDS With Brutal Ending Fans Wont Stop Debating
The Padres NLDS opener in Milwaukee came down to one of those October moments that can linger long after the final pitch. San Diego dropped Game 1, 3-2, but the conversation afterward centered on Ty Frances drive in the top of the ninth, a ball that looked for a moment like it might flip the game and the series with one swing.
Instead, it hit the closed roof at American Family Field and was caught by Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio for an out, a ruling the Padres challenged before it was upheld under the stadiums ground rules. Milwaukee then finished off the final out, leaving San Diego to regroup and leaving fans to keep arguing about a play that felt one step away from changing everything. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Got A Massive Playoff Break Thanks To One Bizarre Bounce
A strange break in Milwaukee helped turn one of Game 1s biggest swings into a routine out, and the Padres were left to shake their heads. Ty France sent a deep fly toward the roof at American Family Field, where the ball took an odd bounce and was ultimately caught by Jackson Chourio, erasing what looked like a possible go-ahead homer for San Diego.
Craig Stammen challenged the call, but the umpires let it stand under the parks ground rule, which treated the ball as fair after it hit the roof. It was the kind of play that can feel unique to one stadium, one postseason game, and one unlucky sequence, especially since the balls path probably would have played differently in most major league parks. [Read more 🡒]