MILWAUKEE -- Blake Snell has a simple way to slow down the Brewers when he takes the mound for the Dodgers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.
"The goal is to keep them off the bases," Snell said on Sunday afternoon at American Family Field.
Of course, that's always the plan for any pitcher. But when Milwaukee inevitably gets a runner on base, Snell will be ready for them to take off at a moment's notice.
"If they're on the bases, it depends which runner is on base," Snell said. "I've studied them. I understand who is running, who is not running, [which] counts -- all that. If we get to that point, then I'll be ready for it and well aware of it."
For the Brewers, it almost doesn't matter who is on base.
They led the National League with 164 steals during the regular season, and it wasn't just any one or two players. Though Brice Turang led the way with 24 stolen bases, the club had seven players with at least 14 steals. Milwaukee was just the seventh team in the Live Ball Era (since 1920) to have that many players steal at least 14 bases.
"Having speed all throughout the lineup, you can beat out a ground ball, you can take an extra base, you can steal a base -- all those things matter," said Brewers first-base coach Julio Borbon. "They certainly matter over the course of a long season, but in the playoffs, when you're going down to the wire and one run can make all the difference, it plays a huge role."
Now, the Brewers did not steal a base in the first four games of the NLDS against the Cubs. (They stole two bases in their Game 5 victory, but neither scored.)
Here's the thing, though: The Cubs were one of the best teams in the Majors in shutting down the running game. Chicago allowed only 80 stolen bases during the regular season, tied for the third-fewest in the Majors.
As for the Dodgers, that's where things get interesting.
Starting catcher Will Smith is one of the best when it comes to throwing out runners -- when healthy. Smith had a 27.2% caught stealing rate this season, which checks in above the league average of 23.2%. Last year, he led all NL catchers with a 33.3% caught stealing rate.
Smith, however, has been recovering from a hairline fracture in his throwing hand that he sustained on Sept. 3. He missed the final three weeks of the regular season and he was not on the Dodgers' NL Wild Card Series roster. Smith came off the bench in the first two games of the NLDS against the Phillies before starting and playing all of Games 3 and 4.
"We're definitely mindful of those guys being aggressive on the bases," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "We like our guy back there, the catch-and-throw. But a lot of it is the pitchers have got to vary their looks and hold [runners] and you've got to be mindful. But that's certainly something that we know -- they're very opportunistic on the bases, for sure."
And for good reason.
The Brewers were 66-30 during the regular season when stealing even just one base in a game. That .688 winning percentage was the second best among all MLB teams in that situation. But when they didn't steal a base, the Brewers were just 31-35.
In other words, Milwaukee played at a 111-win pace when it stole at least one base. It played at a 76-win pace when it was held without a steal.
"I've told you all year, the threat to steal is as important as anything else," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said during the NLDS. "What that causes can create a lot of havoc, and you can't ever measure that. How do we measure if it made a pitcher hurry his pitch and leave it in the middle [of the zone]?”
It's also tough to measure whether Smith’s right hand is at full health.
Looking at the NLDS, the Phillies went 4-for-5 on stolen base attempts when Smith was behind the plate -- and the only caught stealing was on a Snell pick-off. Aside from that, Trea Turner was 2-for-2 and both Bryson Stott and Max Kepler went 1-for-1 on steal attempts vs. Smith.
"I think just being ourselves is a big factor of why we're here," Turang said when asked if the Brewers will try to test Smith early. "And so we'll talk about that in the meetings and stuff like that, but at the end of the day, we're just going to play our game that we know how to play."
Added Borbon: "We know how good of a catcher he is and how well he throws. And obviously, with that stuff, you're going to look at it deeper because you want to take advantage of anything you can on the field, so you certainly monitor it."