Dave Roberts’ exposed Game 1 strategy reveals key NLCS matchup for Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers set the series tone on Sunday night with a narrow victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the NLCS. Powered by excellent infield defense, which produced three ground-ball double plays, an incredible swing from Brice Turang that led to a game-tying home run off Tarik Skubal, and another dominant performance from their bullpen, Pat Murphy's squad built a key 1-0 series lead in their quest to knock off the reigning back-to-back World Series champs.

After Turang's game-tying solo shot in the fourth, the Brewers took the lead in the bottom of the fifth thanks to an RBI single from rookie right fielder Luis Lara. The Brewers maintained that narrow one-run lead through the final four innings of the series opener, but they certainly had opportunities to add on to their run total.

Milwaukee's best scoring opportunity came in the bottom of the eighth inning. Jackson Chourio led off the inning with a single to right field off right-handed reliever Evan Phillips. After the leadoff hit, Dodgers manager turned to southpaw Tanner Scott to face Brice Turang, who promptly laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Chourio to second base, setting up an RBI opportunity for William Contreras.

However, with the left-handed Scott on the mound, Roberts elected to intentionally walk Contreras, setting up a tough left-on-left matchup for Jake Bauers. Scott struck out Bauers on six pitches, which brought lefty-crusher Andrew Vaughn to the plate. Once again, Roberts elected to intentionally walk the righty to set up a left-on-left matchup with Garrett Mitchell. In doing so, however, Roberts moved a key insurance run to third base, where a passed ball or wild pitch would have given the Brewers a two-run lead, and a single would have given them a three-run advantage.

It was undoubtedly a risk for Roberts and the Dodgers -- loading the bases for Mitchell -- but one that paid off on Sunday night. However, in doing so, Roberts exposed a strategy he may use throughout the remainder of the series: prioritizing matchups between his left-handed relievers and the Brewers' left-handed hitters. Such a strategy means the Brewers lefties will have to find ways to produce against Los Angeles' tough bullpen southpaws throughout the series.

The pressure is on the Brewers' left-handed hitters to produce against Dodgers' tough lefty relievers

Left-on-left matchups are something the Brewers are bound to see a lot of throughout the NLCS. From starters Tarik Skubal and Blake Snell to a quartet of lefty relievers in Alex Vesia, Tanner Scott, Kris Bubic, and Justin Wrobleski, Milwaukee can expect to see plenty of southpaws throughout their rematch with the Dodgers.

Clearly, based on last night's strategy, Roberts is going to prioritize matching those lefties up with the Brewers' left-handed hitters by any means necessary. That means there will likely be situations, like last night, where Bauers, Mitchell, Brice Turang, and Christian Yelich will be asked to produce against a same-side pitcher. Concerningly for the Brewers, of that group only Bauers (.901 OPS vs. LHP) had an OPS better than .668 against left-handed pitching during the regular season.

Bauers commented on his improved success against left-handed pitching this year during his pre-game press conference on Monday morning, saying, "A lot of it just has to do with getting the opportunity to see them more often, and then I think I've really focused on developing an approach that gives me the best chance."

On the topic of opportunities, Bauers set a new career-high with 160 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers this year, and already that practice against lefties is coming in handy in the NLCS. Bauers acknowledged the difficult southpaws on the Dodgers' NLCS roster, saying, "Some of these guys, obviously it's not easy, whether it be high arm slot coming from behind you or someone throwing from the side," but in four at-bats in Game 1 last night, all of which came against left-handed pitchers, Bauers went 1-for-3 with a walk and a hard-hit single. Pair that with Turang's impressive blast off Skubal, and the Brewers' left-handers are off to a strong start against same-side pitchers in the NLCS.

Assuming Roberts continues to prioritize these matchups, even if it means intentionally putting runners on base, the pressure will be on Bauers, Turang, and the rest of the Brewers' lefties to continue putting together strong at-bats in these situations. If they can find success against southpaws early in the series, it will certainly complicate Roberts' pitching plan going forward.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow