3 reasons to be optimistic about the Brewers chances in the 2025 postseason

It's playoff time. The Major League Baseball regular season has come to a close, and in just a few short hours, the Wild Card Series will begin.

Fortunately, the Milwaukee Brewers will have a little bit longer to wait. The 2025 Brewers finished with a record of 97-65, which makes them both the best team in franchise history and the best team in Major League Baseball this season.

As a result, they are going straight to the NLDS and will await the winner of the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres' best-of-three series, which begins today at 2:08 p.m. CT. Either way, Milwaukee will have home-field advantage throughout the entire postseason.

Outside of the first-round bye and the great regular season record, Brewers fans have three reasons to feel confident in this year's team during the postseason. They have everything it takes to make a deep run in October.

1. A well-rounded roster

The Brewers are probably the most well-rounded team in baseball.

They finished the year as the third-best offense in baseball (runs scored) and the second-best pitching staff (ERA). Despite having such a great offense, the Brewers were 22nd in long balls this season. While many in the national media paint that as a negative aspect of Milwaukee's offense, it can be reimagined as a strength, as it shows Milwaukee does not rely too heavily on hitting home runs to generate offense.

Instead, the Brewers get on base and wreak havoc. Milwaukee was second in MLB in on-base percentage and stolen bases this season.

From a pitching standpoint, there's no real weakness in the staff. They have the frontline starter and 3-4 experienced arms that can take the ball and get deep into games, which may not even be necessary with a reliable bullpen.

Pound for pound, there's no team in baseball with a better roster than the Milwaukee Brewers right now.

2. Playoff experience

While it's not essential for postseason success, having playoff experience is certainly a good thing for a team hoping to make a deep run in October.

Just like an up-and-coming young squad needs to "learn how to win" in the big leagues, sometimes there are groups that need to learn what it takes to have success in the postseason. In order to learn how to win, you have to learn how to lose.

The Brewers have been to the playoffs in seven of the last eight seasons. As a result, every position player on the active roster besides rookies Caleb Durbin and Isaac Collins has played in multiple postseason games in their careers.

Jackson Chourio, Joey Ortiz, and Jake Bauers all got their first taste of playoff action in 2024 and now get a chance to run it back, while striving for better results.

I tend to believe in maturity and experience. That's why the same teams are so often having playoff success. Sure, there's an upset every once in a while, but the Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, and New York Yankees have spent years advancing in the playoffs because they have a winning culture and a core that has been there before. 

Now it's Milwaukee's turn to turn that corner as a franchise. The Brewers have not won a playoff series since 2018, but this should be the year they learn from all that failure.

3. Freddy Peralta is pitching like a Cy Young

Great playoff teams are, more often than not, backed by a great playoff starting pitcher. You need a certified ace that can take the ball once or twice in a series and give you an automatic win.

The Brewers have exactly that this season in Freddy Peralta, who has a 1.76 ERA and 70 strikeouts over his last 10 outings dating back to the beginning of August.

Peralta has a 5-1 record and a 12.4 K/9 since the trade deadline. That's the kind of streak you want your number one starter riding before the playoffs get going.

Peralta has a career ERA of 4.00 in the postseason, but this is the October for him to establish himself around baseball as one of those go-to guys that carry a pitching staff. If he can do that and continue throwing like he did to close the regular season, it's hard to see anyone beating the Brewers.