Milwaukee Brewers: The potential Wild Card match up vs. Arizona

The Milwaukee Brewers are deep into a playoff race, and at this point, they’re fighting for the second Wild Card spot. If they earn that spot, what would the match up with the Arizona Diamondbacks look like?

On the season, the Milwaukee Brewers went 3-4 against the Diamondbacks. The Crew split a four-game series at Miller Park and lost a three-game series in the desert. In these games, plenty of runs were scored, but there were also plenty of notable pitching performances.

Who starts the Wild Card game?

On the Brewers side, Chase Anderson had a no-hitter going through seven innings in one start that he won. He would most likely be the one to pitch in the one-game playoff for Milwaukee. Without Jimmy Nelson, Anderson is the best starting pitcher the Brewers have.

On the D-backs side, Robbie Ray pitched very well on two separate occasions against Milwaukee. However, Zack Greinke, the man who will probably pitch in the Wild Card game, lost to the Brewers at Miller Park earlier this season.

How about the offenses?

As far as the offenses, both of these teams possess lineups that can blow up a game quickly. The Milwaukee Brewers have home run hitters up and down their lineup, and tend to live off the deep ball. Arizona has some of the league’s top power hitters, as well as a great supporting cast around them.

The trio of Jake Lamb, J.D. Martinez and MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt is an insane series of bats to try and maneuver through. To go along with them, you have to deal with pesky hitters like A.J. Pollock and David Peralta.

The Brewers, will need get hot going into that game, as they are a very streaky offense as a whole. But when they’re hot, they have at least seven guys in the lineup who can hit it out of the ballpark.

Are the bullpens the X-factor?

Finally, when the bullpens are discussed, both units could play an important role in the one-game playoff situation. We have seen time after time how bullpens are huge for playoff teams. Good teams usually only need good five innings from their starter before bringing in the relievers.

The Brewers bullpen has been up and down all season, but recently the top guys have been very good for this team. Josh Hader, Anthony Swarzak, and Corey Knebel have formed quite the trio in the bullpen. The series recent against the Cubs could have been a lot different if those three were completely available.

On the Arizona side, Archie Bradley has had a fantastic season as a “setup man”, and has been in conversations for the closing spot. However, Fernando Rodney owns the ninth inning for the D-backs.

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If the Brewers were to make the second Wild Card spot, the match up between the Brewers and D-backs would be an exciting affair of two teams with electric offenses. However, good pitching can beat good hitting. Both teams would send their aces to the hill, which would be the key to see if they can step up when needed, and beat a great offensive team.