Brewers prioritize late-game matchups with starting lineup for Game 1 of NLDS

Under three hours remain until the Milwaukee Brewers will kick off their highly anticipated 2026 postseason run. The Brewers, owners of a franchise-record-breaking 103-59 record during the regular season, earned a first-round bye and have therefore spent the week leading up to tonight preparing for the National League Division Series, in which they will face the red-hot San Diego Padres.

Jacob Misiorowski will unsurprisingly take the ball for the Brewers in Game 1, after establishing himself as the frontrunner for the NL Cy Young Award during the regular season. Opposite him will be veteran southpaw Robbie Ray, who joined the Padres at the midseason trade deadline. In starting a left-hander, the Padres forced the Brewers to make a series of difficult decisions in regard to their starting lineup.

Typically, when facing a left-hander, the Brewers would have started Jake Bauers in right field, Andrew Vaughn at first base, and Christian Yelich at DH, but Bauers' lingering shin splints, and therefore limited mobility in the outfield, complicated the situation. Pat Murphy proved over the final month of the regular season that he was uncomfortable starting the hobbled Bauers in right field, but it was uncertain whether or not that lineup limitation would continue into the postseason. However, now Brewers fans have their answer.

In the Brewers' Game 1 lineup, which was revealed just moments ago, rookie Luis Lara is in right field, Bauers is at first base, Yelich is the DH, and Vaughn is starting the game on the bench. The biggest gripe Brewers fans are likely to have with the lineup is Vaughn not being in the lineup as the DH against a southpaw, but there's a clear reason for that decision.

Brewers saving Andrew Vaughn for late-game at-bat despite left-hander Robbie Ray starting Game 1 for Padres

When asked about his decision to start his captain, Yelich, as the team's DH tonight, Murphy said, "I think Yeli's career speaks for itself, what he means to this team speaks for itself. He's had success against Ray. He's swinging the bat good these last seven or eight days. There's been a lot of positives." Given the opportunity, Murphy is certainly going to say the decision to start his veteran leader was an easy one, not only to boost Yelich's confidence, but also to keep morale high heading into the postseason. However, peel back the curtains and there's more to this decision.

Ray isn't expected to make a long start. With San Diego's talented bullpen and the veteran southpaw's command issues, it wouldn't be shocking to see Ray only cover 9-12 outs for the Padres in Game 1. However, the Padres also have a pair of talented lefties looming in their bullpen group: Yuki Matsui and Adrian Morejon. Let's say the Brewers did start Vaughn as the DH and Yelich on the bench, but brought the latter in as the DH once Ray's day was done and the Padres went to a right-handed reliever in the middle innings. In such a scenario, Yelich or another left-hander would then essentially be forced to remain in the game when either Matsui or Morejon enters in the later innings, setting up an unfavorable matchup for the Brewers in a potentially high-leverage situation.

In other words, the Brewers are prioritizing the ability to use Vaughn as a pinch hitter in the late innings against one of the Padres' left-handed relievers, rather than have him earn an at-bat or two against Ray in the early innings, before presumably being pulled when a right-hander enters the game. Of course, such a strategy only makes sense if Murphy actually pinch hits Vaughn in the later innings, but there's certainly a scenario where this starting lineup results in the most possibly favorable matchups for the Brewers. If the expectation was that Ray was going to work deep into the game and face the Brewers' lineup three times through, the story might be different, but Murphy is expecting to trade one or two at-bats of Yelich against Ray for the ability to have Vaughn as a valuable pinch hitter late in the game.

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