Brewers news: Brandon Woodruff update, Shohei Ohtani benching decision, Blake Snell's pre-start comments

With a 2-0 series lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, the Milwaukee Brewers are hoping to win their third consecutive game over the reigning back-to-back World Series champions tonight. The Brewers, who will send Robert Gasser to the mound first in Game 3, are not taking wins in Games 1 and 2 of the NLCS for granted, knowing that the script can quickly be flipped with Dave Roberts' star-studded squad manning the opposing dugout.

That said, a 2-0 series lead in the League Championship Series is uncharted territory for the Brew Crew. The Brewers didn't possess a 2-0 lead in any of their previous four appearances in the LCS -- they were down 0-2 in the ALCS in 1982 before winning three straight, were even at 1-1 through two games in 2011 and 2018, and trailed 0-2 in their NLCS matchup with the Dodgers last year.

While Pat Murphy's squad clearly has the advantage, especially after defeating Los Angeles' dominant starting duo of Tarik Skubal and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and seeing manager Dave Roberts consider benching 4x MVP Shohei Ohtani, the Brewers remain locked in on winning the series as quickly as possible, knowing that doing so gives them the best chance of eventually securing the first World Series title in franchise history. Staying locked in required them to maintain their focus through yesterday's off-day, during which a trio of intriguing storylines emerged. Let's take a closer look at these three storylines and the implications they could have on the Brewers' path to their first World Series title.

Brandon Woodruff tosses 31-pitch bullpen on Tuesday, narrow chance of returning for potential World Series appearance remains

Perhaps the most exciting piece of news from Tuesday's mid-series off-day was the fact that veteran right-hander Brandon Woodruff kept his hopes of returning for a potential World Series appearance alive by throwing a 31-pitch bullpen. As reported by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Woodruff, who reversed course on his decision to have season-ending shoulder surgery and is instead rehabbing his anterior capsule injury, said his stuff felt "pretty good" during his Tuesday afternoon bullpen session.

It remains a long shot that Woodruff returns to the Brewers' pitching staff for a potential World Series appearance, but the franchise legend is certainly doing whatever he can to pitch in the postseason for the first time since 2021. The Brewers not only have to consider whether or not they trust Woodruff to make his return to the mound in the World Series, but also if including him on a potential World Series roster is worth losing an arm who may be more prepared for the Fall Classic.

The best-case scenario is that Woodruff proves he's healthy enough to be included on a potential World Series roster and makes a significant impact on the Brewers' pitching staff down the stretch, but such a scenario feels highly unlikely. That improbability, however, is not stopping Big Woo from putting in the work to be ready for an appearance in the Fall Classic should the Brewers need him.

Dave Roberts says Shohei Ohtani will be in the Game 3 lineup after rumors of Dodgers potentially benching the 4x MVP

Shohei Ohtani has not been his usual dominant self through the Dodgers' first six games of the 2026 postseason. In part due to lingering knee and biceps injuries that caused the 4x MVP to miss time during the regular season, Ohtani has surprisingly been something of an afterthought during Los Angeles' 2026 playoff run.

As a result, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was reportedly seriously considering benching Ohtani for Game 3 of the NLCS. The consideration was in part due to the fact that rookie southpaw Robert Gasser, who pitches from a low arm slot, is a tough matchup for Ohtani. However, as noted in Roberts' press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Ohtani will be in the Dodgers' starting lineup for Game 3.

Said Roberts, as seen in the video above, Ohtani is "adamant he feels good enough to be in there, he's close to finding something with his swing. And I feel great about it." Whether or not that vote of confidence is genuine or not, Roberts needs his star hitter to find his groove quickly for the Dodgers to slow the momentum of the surging Brewers. Ohtani is just 3-for-20 in the postseason this year, and 1-for-7 with three strikeouts against the Brewers in the NLCS. Whether or not keeping him in the starting lineup is the right decision, Roberts is making the safe call by not removing the generational talent from his NLCS batting order in Game 3.

Dodgers' Game 3 starter Blake Snell comments on change in Brewers' mentality from last year's NLCS

A year ago, Cy Young southpaw Blake Snell took to the podium ahead of his NLCS start against the Brewers and commented on how he wasn't buying the "Average Joes" mindset that Pat Murphy was putting forward. While Snell's comments somewhat missed the mark, due to the fact that the broken financial landscape of baseball will always have the Brewers disadvantaged in comparison to the blank check-bearing Dodgers, it was out of respect that Snell said he didn't believe the Brewers were a bunch of "Average Joes."

This year, the Brewers have shed the underdog mentality, and Snell, who will start Game 3 tonight, has certainly noticed. Said Snell on Tuesday afternoon ahead, "Even the way that Pat [Murphy] talks, and how he talks to the team is way different than last year."

The Brewers are expecting to win this year, which is a stark shift from last year's mentality. No longer does Milwaukee need to do something out of the ordinary to topple the mighty Dodgers and advance to the World Series. Rather, they simply need to play brand of baseball, avoid unforced errors, and continue to prove their roster is capable of success in the postseason. Brewers fans know it, Pat Murphy's squad knows it, and Game 3 starter Blake Snell understands that this isn't the same team who was swept by the Dodgers last year.

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