Brewers vs. Dodgers NL Wild Card Series Preview

The eighth-seeded Milwaukee Brewers will face off against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Wild Card Round.

Despite some ups and downs, the Milwaukee Brewers will be playing postseason baseball for the third year in a row. Not bad, right? These expanded playoffs will now bring a significant challenge for Milwaukee, a rematch of the 2018 NLCS against the top-seeded Los Angeles Dodgers.

Starting with the lineups, let’s take a look at how these two teams match up with one another, and what Brewers fans should expect to see across this three-game playoff.

The Lineups

LA Projected Lineup:

– Mookie Betts, RF

– Corey Seager, DH

– Justin Turner, 3B

– Max Muncy, 2B

– Cody Bellinger, 1B

– Will Smith, C

– Joc Pederson, LF

– Chris Taylor, SS

– AJ Pollock, CF

A simple eyeball test would tell you that this Dodgers lineup is elite. It features several household names in Betts, Bellinger, and Seager. That said, their reigning MVP, Cody Bellinger, has not performed to his standards this season, finishing with a .239 batting average with 12 home runs and 42 strikeouts.

This lineup is capable of big things on a day-by-day basis, but they’ll have to face a Brewers pitching staff that has overachieved this year. In a 3-game series, anything can happen.

MIL Projected Lineup: 

– Avisail Garcia, CF

– Christian Yelich, LF

– Ryan Braun, RF

– Daniel Vogelbach, DH

– Jedd Gyorko, 1B

– Keston Hiura, 2B

– Orlando Arcia, SS

– Eric Sogard, 3B

– Jacob Nottingham, C

The Brewers offense, aside from a couple outlier games where they exploded for 18-19 runs, has been consistently subpar for most of the year. They got no-hit by the Cubs’ fifth starter, and they are dead last in first-inning runs per game, at just 0.25.

The good thing about the postseason is that none of that matters now. If the offense can have two good games in a row, they could find themselves advancing to the next round. That said, old habits may very well persist, and if they do, it’ll be very difficult for Milwaukee to beat L.A.

Look for Orlando Arcia to keep hitting the ball well, and Ryan Braun continuing to put the team on his back as much as he can.

Starting Pitching

Milwaukee losing Corbin Burnes to an oblique injury is a major, major blow. Burnes was having a full-on breakout season this year for Milwaukee and he will not have the opportunity, according to Counsell, to pitch against LA.

That said, Brandon Woodruff was electric his last time out against St. Louis, going eight innings with only two hits given up and 10 strikeouts. Milwaukee will need that version of Brandon Woodruff along with Adrian Houser and Brent Suter picking up the slack if they want a chance to take down the Dodgers.

Brent Suter will get the start in Game 1. He’s performed well in spot start roles this year and while he won’t go six or seven innings, he should be able to get four or five and hand it over to the dominant bullpen. As long as he keeps the Brewers in the game, he’ll have done his job.

Woodruff will get the ball in Game 2. If the Brewers lose Game 1, then they have their ace for an elimination game. If the Brewers win Game 1, then they have their ace for a possible clincher. Either way, it’s a great spot to have Woodruff on the mound.

As for L.A., their rotation features a nice blend of young stars and veteran leaders. Clayton Kershaw has been outstanding this season (6-2, 2.16 ERA, 0.8 WHIP). Walker Buehler, who will start Game 1, and Dustin May have both excelled for the most part, and Tony Gonsolin has been one of the most surprising players of this season (2.31 ERA in 8 starts).

Kershaw will start Game 2 against Brandon Woodruff and the last time those two pitched against each other in the postseason was Game 1 in 2018 and Woodruff hit a solo home run off Kershaw.

The Dodgers don’t have many, if any, weaknesses to point to. They’re the odds-on World Series favorite for good reason. This 3-game series will be telling in terms of Milwaukee’s resiliency, and I believe they will go out there and at least make things interesting.

As Craig Counsell said on Sunday: “There’s no reason to apologize for getting into the playoffs… We’ve got a chance to win the World Series.”