The Brewers and Rays will face off in what should be an epic 2026 World Series, one that has no shortage of storylines.
Two teams that have never won a World Series? Check. The top teams in each respective league facing off? Check. A collection of some of baseball’s top players and recognizable names such as Jacob Misiorowski, Junior Caminero, Jackson Chourio, Drew Rasmussen, Brice Turang and Yandy Díaz? You bet. Heck, even the respective LCS MVPs for each team -- Jake Bauers for the Brewers and Freddy Peralta for the Rays -- made their debuts with their opponent's organization.
Here’s another fun storyline to monitor: each team’s effective, yet completely different bullpen. The Brewers, undoubtedly, have the better unit, a group that dominated during the regular season, has a 1.33 ERA in the postseason and features some of the nastiest arms you’ve ever seen. The Rays, though, have also cobbled together an excellent bullpen, using a collection of arms that won’t wow you like the Brewers' do, but have nonetheless been great.
Take this stat for example: Brewers relievers have averaged 98 mph on fastballs (four-seamers and sinkers) in the postseason, tops among all playoff teams. The Rays, meanwhile, are last among that cohort with a 93.2 mph average fastball. Yet, it’s the Rays' bullpen that produced a slightly higher whiff rate (29% vs. Milwaukee’s 28.9% clip) and strikeout rate (26.7% vs. 24.5%).
The Brewers use a sextet of relievers that all throw gas and have gravity-defying secondary pitches. The Rays feature more unique arm angles and diversity in velocity and pitch movement. Given the sheer difference in how these bullpens operate, let’s break down the main characters in each group.
BREWERS
Megill’s the latest in a long line of dominant Brewers closers, following in the footsteps of Josh Hader and Devin Williams. Acquired in a minor trade with the Twins in April 2023, Megill has blossomed into a lights-out reliever, saving 81 games for the Brew Crew while posting a 2.80 ERA with 231 strikeouts in four seasons. Megill is 6-foot-8, throws an upper-90s fastball with elite IVB and has a hammer curveball that has missed bats on roughly 50% of swings the last three years. The fact that he also boasts above average command makes him even more scary in the ninth inning.
Ashby is arguably the most impressive reliever, period, in the 2026 postseason. The left-hander is on a historic run, akin to Andrew Miller in the 2016 postseason for Cleveland, and has not allowed a run in his first 12 1/3 innings in the playoffs. He closed out the NLCS sweep against the Dodgers with three scoreless innings in Game 4 and it’s not hard to see why he’s excelled. Ashby’s sinker is sitting in the upper 90s in the postseason and his trio of secondaries -- a curveball, slider and changeup -- all generate whiffs at an elite clip. Among all pitchers who produced at least 50 swings in 2026, Ashby’s 56.6% whiff rate on sliders ranked third best among individual pitch types. The 52.4% whiff rate on his curveball ranked eighth, while his 48.9% clip on changeups also ranked in the top 25.
That Uribe hasn’t been mentioned yet is a testament to this Brewers bullpen. The Dominican right-hander has a nasty 99-plus mph sinker and wipeout slider and the results to boot. Since 2025, Uribe’s 1.80 ERA ranks second among the 110 relievers to toss at least 100 innings. Only Aroldis Chapman (1.51) has a lower ERA in that time frame. This trio of Megill, Ashby and Uribe excels not only because they’re all talented but because they’re getting their results in different ways.
Romero has been something of an unsung hero in the Brewers bullpen. Acquired in a 2026 Deadline deal from the Cardinals along with Dustin May (more on him shortly), Romero has faced 19 batters in the postseason and struck out nine of them. The left-hander only walked one and allowed one run on a solo homer from Jake Cronenworth in the NLDS. Romero is mainly a sinker-sweeper lefty and generated some incredible strikeouts on that sweeper in the NLCS clincher against Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy. How he’s employed in the Fall Classic against the Rays will be interesting given how much Tampa Bay plays the matchup game.
May was acquired as a starter from St. Louis and there’s still the chance he starts (or opens) a World Series game, but it’s clear the Brewers value him in a multi-inning role. May was touched up in the NLCS clinching game thanks to Ohtani’s three-run homer, but he’s assuredly going to be used as a bridge in the World Series to the dominant backend relievers. We all know how loud his stuff is -- a trio of high-velocity fastballs and multiple elite spin breaking balls -- and we’ve seen it be effective at times this postseason.
Hall, one of the players acquired from the Orioles in the 2024 Corbin Burnes trade, had mixed results and dealt with injuries in his first two seasons, but produced his best season with the Brew Crew in ‘26. After posting a 1.91 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings in the regular season, Hall has tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings so far in the playoffs. A former starter, Hall still features a diverse arsenal, including six pitches he threw at least 7.9% of the time in the regular season. Hall features two mid-90s heaters, but it’s his changeup and slider that shine as two pitches that generate whiffs roughly 40% of the time.
Other Brewers relievers: Antonio Senzatela (1 2/3 scoreless innings this postseason)
RAYS
The 31-year-old Baker was one of the true breakout relievers in baseball, posting a 1.44 ERA in the regular season, tying for the MLB lead with 41 saves and making his first All-Star Game. Acquired from the Orioles at the 2025 Trade Deadline for a Draft pick, Baker broke out to become the Rays’ closer this season and has been even better in October -- he’s allowed one hit in seven scoreless innings and has five saves. Baker has a dynamic four-seamer in terms of velocity (96.3 mph in the regular season) and ride (19.3 inches of IVB) and a wipeout changeup that uses to get both righties and lefties out.
Something, something about former Orioles relievers excelling with the Rays. A year after Tampa Bay acquired Baker, the Rays struck again for an O’s reliever by acquiring Wells at this year’s Deadline and it paid off. Wells struck out 19 batters and posted a 1.50 ERA in 18 innings and has been heavily utilized in the postseason, although he struggled in the ALCS with four runs allowed in four appearances. The 6-foot-8 Wells doesn’t throw hard, but has a five-pitch mix and is able to produce whiffs and chases and limits walks.
Seymour has been a vital part of the Rays staff this season, operating as a starter and multi-inning reliever. He had a 4.21 ERA and struck out 158 batters in 132 2/3 innings in the regular season and is being used heavily in the postseason in the 'pen. Seymour has appeared in six games and has a 3.68 ERA in 7 1/3 innings. Similar to Wells, Seymour doesn’t throw hard (90.8 mph fastball velocity in the regular season), but he throws tons of strikes, generates chase and produces a healthy amount of whiffs, despite being a six-foot lefty with underwhelming stuff.
Booser’s story and journey to this point is remarkable, as he went from battling addiction to getting huge outs in the postseason for the Rays. After spending his rookie season with the Red Sox in 2024 and the White Sox last year, Booser was inked to a Minor League deal with the Rays before the season and excelled in the regular season. Booser posted a 1.98 ERA and struck out 45 batters in 41 innings in the regular season and has thrown 4 2/3 scoreless innings across six postseason outings. Primarily relying on his four-seamer and cutter, Booser follows a similar trend as the aforementioned Rays relievers -- he produces tons of whiffs and chase all while limiting walks.
Kelly, a sidearming righty, evokes memories of the 2020 Rays bullpen that attacked from any arm angle and helped lead the club to the AL pennant. Kelly has been with Tampa Bay since debuting in 2023, but just produced a career year in the regular season, posting a 2.44 ERA and producing 1.4 WAR, per FanGraphs, in 71 appearances. Kelly uses a low-90s sinker to generate grounders, a changeup to get both whiffs and grounders and then mixes in a four-seamer vs. lefties and a sweeper vs. righties. He’s made five postseason appearances and allowed one run in 2 1/3 innings.
Other Rays relievers: Griffin Jax (used both as a starter and reliever this postseason) and Steven Matz (two scoreless innings in one appearance)