When the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers open the 2025 National League Championship Series Monday night in Milwaukee, it will be a battle of star power and roster chemistry.
This season, when the two teams met, Milwaukee’s brand of baseball came out on top, with the Brewers winning the regular-season series over the Dodgers. However, of those six wins, three were one-point wins, while two other wins were by two points.
Could those close games be a preview of what we’ll see in the NLCS this year? If so, this could favor the Brewers, and here’s why.
Biggest NLCS question for the Dodgers? The bullpen
Dodger relievers were one of the team’s weaknesses for most of the season, and that remained the case in the postseason.
When the game is turned over to the bullpen this postseason, Los Angeles has posted a 5.75 ERA in 20.1 innings. Compare that to the 2.02 ERA posted by Dodgers starters during their five postseason outings, and it’s clear why Milwaukee will want to jump on Los Angeles pitching early and force Dave Roberts into its bullpen.
While the Dodgers may have found their closer in Roki Sasaki, who has allowed just one hit in 5.1 scoreless innings this postseason, getting the bridge from the starters to Sasaki could be a major challenge for Roberts.
Take the case of Blake Treinen, the veteran right-hander in the first year of a two-year, $22 million deal. He finished the regular season with a 5.40 ERA, but Roberts was forced to use him in the postseason as well… with less than stellar results. In 2.1 innings spread over four games, Treinen had four hits and two runs, raising his ERA to 7.71.
In clutch situations, Roberts may have to use relievers who haven’t performed well lately, and that’s a red flag for a team trying to repeat as world champions.
Biggest NLCS question for the Brewers? The starters
On paper, Milwaukee’s starters look solid. After all, Quinn Priester (3.32 ERA) and Freddy Peralta (2.70 ERA) were each among the National League’s best during the regular season, giving the Brewers a solid one-two punch.
Against the Cubs in the NLDS, however, that hit was pretty lifeless.
Peralta’s 4.66 ERA over 9.2 innings was at least better than Priester’s four-run, three-hit outing that lasted just 0.2 innings in Game 3 at Wrigley Field. That equates to a 54.00 ERA and concerns for the 25-year-old right-hander before he makes his first start against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
When asked recentlysaid an NL scout that the Brewers don’t have someone like Tarik Skubal or Paul Skenes who can go out in his starts and take over the game. Now that Los Angeles has three former MVPs in the lineup, that’s a concern.
The Brewers got enough of their starters and offense during the regular season to beat the Dodgers. Can they do the same when October’s lights shine brightest?
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