The Milwaukee Brewers secured their spot in the National League Championship Series with a 3-1 win over the San Diego Padres in Game 4 of the Division Series. Once again, they will face the Los Angeles Dodgers, who swept them in last year’s NLCS. Just like 2025, the Brewers have the first two games at home by virtue of having the best record in Major League Baseball.
The Dodgers won the series easily last year, but the Brewers are looking for redemption. The Dodgers may be the favorites, but not everybody believes that they are going to win this series. In fact, Buster Olney of ESPN believes that the Brewers are going to be the ones walking away victorious instead.
“I think the Milwaukee Brewers are going to win because they’re in a much better position with their pitching,” Olney said on Friday.
Buster Olney Makes Bold NLCS Prediction for Milwaukee Brewers
To be fair, the Brewers are starting this series at home. They beat the Padres in four games in the Division Series, which leaves Jacob Misiorowski in line to start Game 1 of the NLCS on Sunday night.
Unlike last year, Misiorowski has unlocked his full potential and been perhaps the best starting pitcher in Major League Baseball, so having him at home to open the series is a big advantage for Milwaukee.
That also means that they will likely have Logan Henderson on the mound for Game 2 of the series. The pitching staff is in a much better spot this year than it was at this time last year.
That isn’t to say that facing the Dodgers is going to be an easy task for them. The Dodgers have still won back-to-back World Series titles, and will likely be considered the favorites to win by most.
But Olney clearly sees something he likes better about the Brewers in this series, and a lot of it could have to do with Misiorowski being fully seasoned. But it’s also important to remember that the Brewers set a franchise record in regular season wins again, this time winning 103 games before ultimately knocking out the Padres. So, a case can be made that they are a more formidable opponent this time around.
It still won’t be easy, but there could be something different about this year’s Brewers team that gives them a better chance of taking down the Dodgers and reaching the World Series for the first time since 1982.
Who will Brewers face?
If the Dodgers stick with the order they used in the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves, that would line Tarik Skubal and Blake Snell up to pitch the first two games, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto for Game 3 back in Los Angeles, so the pitching matchups are going to be tough for Milwaukee.
But there is a lot to like about what the Brewers have to offer, so it should be a very entertaining series as the two teams fight it out to determine who will reach the World Series for the National League.
Brewers Receive Bold Prediction Ahead of NLCS Date With Dodgers