The Brewers should use this player as an opener in Game 1 of the NLCS

That off-day felt quick. After defeating the Chicago Cubs in Game 5 of the NLDS on Saturday night, the Milwaukee Brewers need to quickly reset their focus to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who come into town for the NLCS, which is set to start tonight at 7:08 p.m. CT.

While Dave Roberts and the Dodgers have already made clear their pitching plans for Game 1, electing to start 2x Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, who has won each of his two postseason starts this year and holds a daunting 1.38 ERA since playoff baseball began, the Brewers still have yet to name an official starter for tonight's series opener.

During Pat Murphy's pre-series press conference yesterday evening, he mentioned that his team will likely go with an opener tonight, followed by either Quinn Priester or José Quintana, as reported by Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, among others.

Therefore, the main question that should be on the minds of Brewers fans on this overcast Monday morning in Milwaukee is who will be the opener for either Priester or Quintana. There's plenty for Murphy and his staff to take into account as they prepare for the dangerous Dodgers lineup, but one lefty reliever should be strongly considered.

Milwaukee should consider using Jared Koenig as an opener in Game 1

When selecting an opener, teams generally look at the opposing lineup's top 3-4 hitters and consider which pitchers on their roster match up best with said hitters. For example, in Game 2 of the NLDS, Murphy was focused on neutralizing the threat posed by Michael Busch at the top of the Cubs' lineup, which led to the decision to pitch southpaw Aaron Ashby at the beginning of the game. That decision worked to some extent -- Craig Counsell swapped Busch for a lesser bat in Justin Turner at the top of his lineup -- but righty Seiya Suzuki slugged a three-run homer off Ashby, putting a damper on the Brewers' opener strategy.

When it comes to the Dodgers, the choice of whether to throw a righty or a lefty at the beginning of the game is not nearly as clear. That's because Los Angeles' top four hitters have strong numbers against both right-handers and southpaws. The following, details the Dodgers' top four hitters' OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) versus left-handed pitchers and right-handed pitchers during the 2025 regular season.

Shohei Ohtani (OPS vs. LHP/OPS vs. RHP): .898/1.076
Mookie Betts: .750/.724
Teoscar Hernández: .752/.734
Freddie Freeman: .855/.874

As you can see, the only major difference is that Ohtani's OPS decreases significantly when facing a left-handed pitcher, but he still holds an impressive .898 OPS against southpaws, which is higher than any of his teammates' OPS against their strong side. In other words, regardless of who you throw at Shohei Ohtani, he's still an elite hitter.

That said, the decrease of nearly .200 points in Ohtani's OPS is notable, and if you're Pat Murphy, why not make his life more difficult if you can? Therefore, the Brewers should turn to a southpaw for their opener. While Aaron Ashby will certainly get some consideration, Milwaukee should consider throwing Jared Koenig instead, for several reasons.

For one, Ashby threw in four of the Brewers' NLDS games, including Game 5 on Saturday night, whereas Koenig hasn't pitched since last Wednesday. Ashby could be called upon to cover multiple innings at some point in the series, even potentially serving as a true starting pitcher, but throwing him in Game 1 as an opener decreases that possibility.

Additionally, though it's a tiny sample size, Ohtani is 2-2 against Ashby in his career and 0-4 when facing Koenig. Not much can be drawn from just six at-bats, but perhaps it's an indication that Ohtani sees the ball well out of Ashby's more over-the-top arm slot and struggles against Koenig's cross-fire approach.

Pat Murphy is not afraid to go to one of his high-leverage guys at the beginning of the game to set the tone, as evidenced by his decision to open with Trevor Megill in Game 5 of the NLDS. Adopting that same strategy by throwing Koenig in the first inning of the NLCS could certainly work in the Brewers' favor.