Brewers' best (and only) chance for historic playoff redemption in NLCS is in Shane Drohan's hands

Much of the media's attention heading into this year's NLCS rematch between the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers was on the strength of the defending World Series Champions' starting pitching group. With a pair of Cy Young-winning left-handers in Tarik Skubal, whom the Dodgers acquired at the midseason trade deadline, and Blake Snell, as well as 2025 World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto and All-Star right-hander Tyler Glasnow in their rotation, that attention was well-deserved.

However, through the first three games of the NLCS, the Brewers have bested Los Angeles' top three starters and built a commanding 3-0 series lead. Skubal and Snell took the loss in Games 1 and 3, respectively, and sandwiched in between was a 2.2-inning, 75-pitch start from Yamamoto that forced Dave Roberts to use seven relief pitchers in Game 2. On the other side, Milwaukee's starting group hasn't necessarily been the strength of their pitching staff during the postseason -- that would be their bullpen -- but the trio of Jacob Misiorowski, Logan Henderson, and Robert Gasser combined for 13.1 innings and allowed just two earned runs through the first three NLCS games.

Game 4 is where things get interesting. While the Brewers' decision to start Miz, Henderson, and Gasser in the first three games of the NLCS felt like an obvious one, especially after Gasser's strong showing in the NLDS, who would get the ball to start Game 4 remained an unanswered question through this morning.

However, just moments ago, the Brewers officially revealed that rookie southpaw Shane Drohan will start Game 4 of the NLCS tonight. Drohan, who will be making his postseason debut, will be the first out-getter of Milwaukee's quest for never-before-seen level of redemption in a playoff series.

Brewers trying to become first team in MLB history to sweep a team in the playoffs who swept them in the previous postseason

The Brewers just have to win one of their next four games to return to the World Series for the first time since 1982. That much is true. That said, closing out the Dodgers tonight and completing one of the most impressive sweeps in postseason history would be a redemption performance never before seen in MLB history. According to MLB.com's statistician Sarah Langs, no team in the history of MLB has swept a team in a postseason series after being swept by that same team in the previous playoffs.

After the demoralizing loss that the Brewers suffered in last year's NLCS, defeating the Dodgers in four games this year would easily be one of the most satisfying postseason series sweeps in MLB history. Pair that with the payroll disparity that exists between the two clubs, the fact that Los Angeles is pursuing a three-peat, and the Dodgers' victory in the Tarik Skubal trade deadline sweepstakes, and the Brewers sweeping MLB's Evil Empire would be especially gratifying.

Completing that sweep in Game 4 tonight starts with a strong showing from Drohan, who hasn't pitched in any of the Brewers' first seven postseason games this year. Drohan impressed during the regular season, with a 4.19 ERA in 124.2 innings to prove it. His low arm-slot from the left side matches up well with Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, and his six-pitch mix should keep the struggling Dodgers' offense off-balance.

It likely won't be a long start for Drohan, especially given the arms available in Pat Murphy's 'pen. In theory, only DL Hall is unavailable for tonight's game, but the Brewers may elect to avoid using Abner Uribe for an eighth consecutive game as well. However, that leaves Kyle Harrison, Dustin May, Chad Patrick, Aaron Ashby, Antonio Senzatela, JoJo Romero, and Trevor Megill available for Murphy to turn to after Drohan.

Any type of victory over the Dodgers in this year's NLCS would represent redemption for the Brewers after being swept by Los Angeles a season ago. However, Milwaukee's only shot at historic redemption that has never occurred in the history of MLB is tonight, during which rookie southpaw Shane Drohan will kick off their sweep attempt.

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