MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers were a perfect 6-0 against the Dodgers in last year’s regular season, and you know what happened next. They got swept in the National League Championship Series, shut down by Dodgers starters Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani to the tune of one run in each of the four games.
This year, after going 4-3 against the Dodgers, including a big four-game series win at Chavez Ravine in August, is different, the Brewers say.
“We’re going to go in there and grind,” Christian Yelich said. “We have a confident group. We’re expecting a great series.”
Here are some of the reasons why.
1. They were spent
That’s not our assessment. That’s the Brewers’ own assessment of the state of the club coming off a tense, emotional five-game NL Division Series against the Cubs and all of the associated drama that came with it. Manager Pat Murphy has said they were emotionally and physically drained. Pitching coach Chris Hook said it after the Brewers’ NLDS clinch in San Diego on Wednesday night.
“We’ve been through this a few times, and the more you’re under this kind of stress, the more you get comfortable in this environment,” said Hook, who was asked about another matchup with the Dodgers. “That was disappointing last year. I think we were getting to the end. There’s that ‘juice’ in the room, and we were kind of getting to the end of our juice. It took a lot out of us to beat the Cubs.
“This is a different group, as you can tell. I think we’re ready to go.”
2. They have Jacob Misiorowski primed for Game 1
The Brewers pitched lefty reliever Aaron Ashby as an opener in Game 1 of last year’s NLCS ahead of a compromised Quinn Priester, who was dealing with the early signs of what would much later be diagnosed as thoracic outlet syndrome. Game 2 went to Freddy Peralta, who was an All-Star and a consistent performer for the Brewers for many years, but also came off a poor start against the Cubs in Game 4 of the NLDS.
Then they started Ashby again as an opener in Game 3 at Dodger Stadium ahead of Misiorowski, who had struggled so mightily in the second half that he lost his spot in the starting rotation and almost was left off the postseason roster. And it was veteran left-hander Jose Quintana starting Game 4, coming off a calf strain suffered in September.
This year’s Brewers are lined up so much better. Winning the NLDS in four games and avoiding a Misiorowski start in a Game 5 on Friday night changed everything, since Misiorowski will be rested and ready for Game 1 on Sunday night, followed by Game 2 starter Logan Henderson, who has now started 24 games in his career in the regular season and postseason and still hasn’t given up more than three runs in an outing.
There are some questions after that, beginning with whether the Brewers plan to continue with Dustin May starting games after a so-so performance in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Padres. Left-hander Robert Gasser, however, has proven he belongs, following a strong finish (1.67 ERA over his last six outings of the regular season) with a gutsy four-inning performance in Game 4 in which he navigated some defensive lapses behind him. Other length options include left-handers Shane Drohan and Kyle Harrison.
3. Christian Yelich is hitting
Small sample alert, but Yelich’s .900 OPS in the NLDS against the Padres is up there with his most productive series in the postseason.
2023 NLWCS vs. D-backs: 4-for-8, double, two walks, 1.225 OPS
2018 NLDS vs. Rockies: 2-for-8, homer, six walks, 1.196 OPS
2026 NLDS vs. Padres: 5-for-14, double, two walks, .900 OPS
Yelich’s run-scoring single in a losing effort in Game 3 against the Padres was his first postseason RBI since a first-inning home run against the Dodgers in Game 7 of the 2018 NLCS. Yelich then went 19 postseason games without driving in a run. But maybe unlike postseasons past, he doesn’t have to focus on carrying the offense.
“I’m really just focusing on putting together a good at-bat and passing it to the next guy,” Yelich said. “In the postseason atmosphere, you’re just trying to have a good at-bat. A team at-bat. And you go from there.”
4. They have a fully stocked bullpen
The Brewers used a lot of Ashby, Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill in the NLDS, as the trio combined for 12 2/3 of the 19 innings pitched by their bullpen, including the final five innings of Game 4. But they will all have three days’ rest by the time NLCS Game 1 rolls around. Last year, Megill was still not too far removed from a right forearm strain that sidelined him late in the regular season. Now he’s full-go.
They have plenty of capable arms around them. DL Hall has ascended to high-leverage status in recent weeks. Chad Patrick proved in last year’s postseason he’s capable of the same. And Trade Deadline additions JoJo Romero and Antonio Senzatela have been solid. Then there are the length arms like Drohan and Harrison, whose presence means the Brewers shouldn’t have to burn a leverage arm if they find themselves down multiple runs.
“I think we’ve got an arm for each side,” Hook said. “It’s high velo. The secondaries are elite. And I think our guys are really starting to understand and believe that we can do this. We’ve been doing this since the last three weeks of the season -- a really good rehearsal for what we’re going to need to do. To see it come to fruition is great.”
5. No Shohei Ohtani on the mound
Sorry for rehashing this, Brewers fans. But for those who missed it, Ohtani threw six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts as the starting pitcher in Game 4 of last year’s NLCS at Dodger Stadium and hit three home runs in perhaps the greatest single-game performance -- postseason or otherwise -- in Major League history.
This year, the Brewers only have to worry about Ohtani as a hitter. And while he can’t be taken lightly, he’s coming off a .566 OPS in September followed by an NLDS against the Braves in which he went 2-for-13 and slipped as far as fifth in the lineup for Game 3 -- the lowest batting order position of his tenure as a Dodger.
“It's good to know that we can still win games without him doing a whole bunch,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But he's going to come to life. It will happen.”
The Brewers will try to keep that from happening again.