Category: Baseball

Rematch. A chance for redemption. A chance to rewrite the ending from last season. For the second consecutive year, the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers will face off in the National League Championship Series with the right to advance to the World Series on the line.

Each of the last three times the Brewers have made the NLCS, their opponent has been the Dodgers. 2018 and 2025 were both dates with LAD and 2026 is no different. The Brewers have yet to defeat the Dodgers in a postseason series.

This year, the Brewers appear far better positioned than last to take down baseball’s evil empire. They’re coming off only a four-game NLDS series win against a non-division opponent, so they’ve had three full days of rest to recover and prepare for this matchup. They have three fully stretched out starting pitchers that all had strong performances in the NLDS, as opposed to last year where they had largely just one in Freddy Peralta.

The team feels more confident this year that they can take down the Dodgers. That kind of belief is paramount to success.

On the mound, both teams will be throwing their best. Jacob Misiorowski will get the start for the Brewers, while Tarik Skubal is starting for the Dodgers. The Brewers attempted to trade for Skubal at the Deadline this year, but the Tigers opted to send him to Los Angeles. Now, the Brewers get to face the very player they wanted to have and avoid playing against.

Pat Murphy elected not to make any changes to his roster for the NLCS. It’ll be the same group that faced the Padres in the NLDS.

However, the lineup will change a little bit for Game 1. Christian Yelich, after starting each game of the last series, will be sitting on the bench for this first game. Andrew Vaughn will get his first start of the 2026 postseason and is batting 5th in the lineup as the DH.

“It’s about our team and what’s best for our team today, and it might not be the whole game, but it’s what’s best for our team today. You look at matchups, and you look at history, and you look at how the guy pitches a guy potentially, and what it could bring.” Pat Murphy said.

Jackson Chourio will once again be leading off and playing left field. Murphy has been trying to find the right hitter to put behind Chourio to protect him in the order. Brice Turang will get that nod for Game 1. He will be followed by William Contreras and then Jake Bauers is batting cleanup. Garrett Mitchell will bat 6th and play centerfield. Cooper Pratt follows Mitchell, batting 7th. Another change in the lineup is that Luis Lara will get the start in right field and bat 8th. Then Joey Ortiz rounds out the bottom of the order at third base.

Dave Roberts’ difficult lineup decisions are in as well. Mookie Betts will leadoff with Freddie Freeman batting second. Will Smith will catch and bat third, while Shohei Ohtani is batting cleanup. Teoscar Hernandez and Max Muncy will follow Ohtani. Then Andy Pages, Kyle Tucker, and Kike Hernandez will round out the bottom of the lineup for the Dodgers.

With Tarik Skubal on the mound, the Milwaukee Brewers will send their captain to the bench for Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. 

The Brewers made a pair of changes to their standard lineup used in beating San Diego in the NL Division Series, opting for righty-swinging Andrew Vaughn at designated hitter in place of Christian Yelich and switch-hitting Luis Lara in right field. 

Skubal, the game's most dominant left-handed pitcher, won Game 1 of the Dodgers' NL Division Series against Atlanta. Milwaukee opted for the rookie Lara in right field, though lefty-swinging Sal Frelick will almost certainly be used against a right-hander later in the game. 

The Brewers beat Skubal in an Aug. 16 matchup at Dodger Stadium, two weeks after L.A. acquired th two-time Cy Young Award winner from Detroit. Catcher William Contreras batted leadoff that day, while Vaughn and first baseman Jake Bauers combined for six hits in the 6-2 victory.

NLCS 2026: How Brewers owner fell in love with Milwaukee | Exclusive

Brewers lineup today

1. Jackson Chourio (R) LF
2. Brice Turang (L) 2B
3. William Contreras (R) C
4. Jake Bauers (L) 1B
5. Andrew Vaughn (R) DH
6. Garrett Mitchell (L) CF
7. Cooper Pratt (R) SS
8. Luis Lara (S) RF
9. Joey Ortiz (R) 3B

The mountains that the Cincinnati Reds will need to climb to be relevant again in the National League will be on full display on Sunday night in Milwaukee as the Brewers play host to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series. The only question that will be answered is which mountain is tallest.

Milwaukee won 103 games during their brilliant regular season – the most in the sport this year. They’ll also be sending fireballer Jacob Misiorowski to the mound to start Game 1 as the presumptive NL Cy Young Award winner after leading the sport with a 1.89 ERA and 243 strikeouts during the regular season.

Cy Young Awards are nothing new to Tarik Skubal, who’ll get the start for a Dodgers club that tallied the second most wins during the regular season with 100. Skubal, twice a winner of the AL CYA while with the Detroit Tigers prior to his mid-year trade to LA, is searching for his first World Series title as he barrels towards what could be a record trip into free agency this winter.

FOX will carry this game, with first pitch slated for 8:00 PM ET.

MILWAUKEE — The Los Angeles Dodgers are batting slumping Shohei Ohtani cleanup in their opening game of the National League Championship Series on Sunday night against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Ohtani had just two hits in 13 at-bats (.154) in their National League Division Series victory against Atlanta, a continuation from his struggles beginning in August.

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“I still think, if he's in the batter's box, he's still a threat," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He swung the bat well against these guys last postseason. Their memories [against] those pitchers, their memories are long. Now it's just up to Shohei to understand that and control the strike zone.

“They're just not going to give in to him regardless of how he might be swinging the bat over the last couple months, in my opinion."

Ohtani hit .357 with three homers and a 1.143 OPS in the Dodgers’ sweep against Milwaukee in last year’s NLCS, and also pitched six shutout innings with 10 strikeouts.The Dodgers still believe he’s a threat getting on base without the power, particularly against Brewers flame-thrower Jacob Misiorowski.

“It’s just get on base, take good at-bats, and we'll deal with whatever," Roberts said. “Honestly, it's the same message for everyone. Shohei is known for his slug, but when you're facing Jacob, it's just you've got to take good at-bats. If you run into a homer, great. But if you can earn a walk, fantastic."

The Dodgers for their first game of the National League Championship Series will have Kiké Hernández in the starting lineup for a third straight game. Hernández plays second base and bats ninth on Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Hernández, who homered in Game 3 against Chris Sale of the Braves, usually starts against left-handers, but this is is second straight start against a right-handed starting pitcher.

Shohei Ohtani in Game 1 of the NLCS bats fourth against Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski. For nearly all of Ohtani’s three years with the Dodgers, his placement in the lineup was more rigid, mostly all batting leadoff except when he was hitting second. But with Ohtani’s month-plus slump changed things. He’s batted second, fourth, and fifth so far in the postseason.

“I haven’t settled on that,” manager Dave Roberts said Friday, “But it’s probably somewhere between one and five, I would say, or two and five.”

The last home run for Ohtani was hit on August 18 at Coors Field. Since then he’s gone 101 plate appearances and 22 full games without a long ball, hitting just .151/.277/.198.

During the NLDS against the Braves, Ohtani had two singles and two walks in 16 plate appearances, including a stolen base in Game 4. Ohtani is the only Dodgers hitter who has homered off Misiorowski, doing so on July 8, 2025, the only run allowed by Misiorowski on that day, his fifth major league start. In three games against the Dodgers, including last year’s NLCS, the Brewers ace has a 1.59 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 17 innings.

Not that a home run is necessarily needed to get Ohtani out of his slump.

“It’s one of those things that for tomorrow it’s just get on base, take good at-bats, and we’ll deal with whatever. Honestly it’s the same message for everyone,” Roberts said Saturday night in Milwaukee. “Shohei is known for his slug, but when you’re facing Jacob, it’s just you’ve got to take good at-bats. If you run into a homer, great. But if you can earn a walk, fantastic.

“I think it’s more of — production is just doing anything positive for the club, and we need all guys to do their part.”

It’s been 10 years, as you know, since the Cubs won the World Series.

On their way to that win, there were some memorable games and over the next few weeks, I’ll post some highlights from those games so we can all remember.

The Division Series against the Giants had gone the Cubs’ way in Chicago. Javier Báez’ solo homer off Johnny Cueto won Game 1, then a raucous Wrigley Field crowd celebrated a Game 2 win that included a home run by Travis Wood.

The series moved west to San Francisco and it looked like the Cubs had Game 3 in hand when Jake Arrieta smashed a three-run homer in the second inning. But the Giants came back and had a 5-3 lead going to the ninth, when a walk by Dexter Fowler was followed by a game-tying homer from Kris Bryant. Unfortunately, the Cubs couldn’t score for four extra innings and the Giants walked things off in the 13th.

Game 4, then, was the Cubs’ second chance to win the series. The Giants took a 1-0 lead off John Lackey in the first, but David Ross tied things up with this solo homer in the third:

The Giants put a pair of runs on the board off John Lackey in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead, but the Cubs got one of those runs back on a sacrifice fly by Ross after Báez had reached third on a rare bad throw by Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford.

The Cubs brought in Justin Grimm and he allowed a pair of one-out hits putting Giants on second and third, and he was replaced by Wood, who gave up RBI hits to Conor Gillaspie and Joe Panik and San Francisco had a three-run lead.

Moore, meanwhile, was slamming the door shut on the Cubs. After the Cubs run in the fifth, Moore retired 10 of the next 11 Cubs, sending the game to the ninth with the Cubs trailing by three. I remember sitting in Oracle Park that night wondering if the Cubs would ever get another hit.

Moore had thrown 120 pitches through eight innings and allowed just one other hit besides Ross’ homer, a single by Anthony Rizzo in the fourth. No modern manager would allow a pitcher to throw that many pitches in a postseason game, showing you how much the game has changed in the last 10 years.

Derek Law entered the game to throw the top of the ninth. Bryant greeted him with a single and Bruce Bochy brought in Javier Lopez, back in the days before the three-batter minimum, and Lopez walked Rizzo. Out came Bochy for another pitching change, this time Sergio Romo.

Ben Zobrist doubled off Romo, scoring Bryant to make it 5-3, with Rizzo stopping at third. Now the tying runs are in scoring position with nobody out and Cubs fans, myself included, were stirring.

Bochy again trudged to the mound and summoned Will Smith to face pinch-hitter Willson Contreras (after Joe Maddon had sent up Chris Coghlan to bat for Addison Russell, which is why Bochy made the change in the first place — with the three-batter minimum, you can’t really do this now). Contreras’ hit tied the game:

Back in the day when sacrifice bunts were still a thing, Joe Maddon had Jason Heyward sacrifice. The bunt was successful, and when Crawford again made a bad throw, Heyward took second. That would turn out to be very, very important.

Báez was the next hitter. If you have ever sat with me at a Cubs game, you know I do not normally get very demonstrative. But when Javy sent a ground ball up the middle, I yelled out, “GET THROUGH!”, as if my words could make that happen.

It happened:

Ross then hit into a double play, ending the inning, but the Cubs had a ninth-inning rally for the ages:

Aroldis Chapman threw the ninth for the Cubs and struck out all three Giants he faced to send the Cubs to the NLCS. Here are all three K’s:

Here is the entire top of the ninth if you want to re-live it as it happened:

It’s one of the greatest games in Cubs franchise history, and one that’s nearly forgotten after the World Series run and what happened in Game 7. But no one connected with the Cubs wanted to see them have to go back to Wrigley Field and face Cueto again in a decisive Game 5, especially after scoring just one run off him in Game 1. This amazing comeback made that unnecessary, and it’s absolutely worth remembering and celebrating. The Cubs defeated the Giants 6-5 in Game 4 of the NLDS 10 years ago today, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016.

It’s Sunday once more, and you know what that means — it’s time for our weekly social media roundup! Last week, we had a lot of fun in this space, as the Yankees sent the Boston Red Sox home with two dominant wins that unleashed a fury of social media fun. This week? Well, truly, I really don’t want to do this. But, like Sisyphus and his giant rock, here I am, condemned to scroll through depressing social media feeds to bring this week’s roundup to you. And so, without further ado…let’s get this out of the way.

Congratulations, CC

We’re actually going to begin with something positive this week. This past Monday, Yankees legend CC Sabathia marked 11 years sober. In a Hall of Fame career that featured a Cy Young Award, a World Series championship, 3000 strikeouts, enshrinement in Monument Park, and a retired number, this marks the greatest accomplishment of CC’s career. Congratulations on the milestone, and here’s to many more!

11 years sober! One of the best decisions I ever made on this day in 2015. Grateful for everyone who has supported me along the way to regain control and wake up every day a better version of myself as a father, husband, and friend. For anyone out there battling, just know you’re not alone and please speak up. There is a light at the end of the tunnel 🙏🏾

Congratulations, Luke!

Earlier this year, Luke Pettitte, the son of Yankee legend Andy, began his journey in professional baseball after he was selected in the eighth round of this year’s draft. Well, as it turns out, that was not his only accomplishment in 2026, as this week, he got married!

At Least Suzyn Had Fun

As annoying and tough as this week was, at least Suzyn Waldman continued to bring the same energy she always does.

Scranton Rebrand

The Scranton No-Longer-The-RailRiders announced on Instagram that they will announce their new identity on November 7th. Yup, that’s right, we’ve got an announcement of an announcement.

Fade to Black.

*Sigh.* I’ve put this section off for long enough. Following the Yankees’ loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday, a number of members of the Yankees family took to social media to thank the fans for their support this season.

Still, overall, I think CC Sabathia reflects the entire fanbase.

Damn.

With the notable exception of the Dodgers, this has been the October of small market teams so far. Of the four teams remaining, three of them rank in the bottom half in terms of payroll. Remarkably, the two cheapest teams in the American League will battle it out for a spot in the World Series. 

While Nats fans have complained a lot about the lack of spending, and rightfully so in my opinion, there are ways to win without spending much money. Paul Toboni should be studying how teams like the Rays, Brewers and Guardians operate. Ideally, the Nats can become another version of that with a bit more spending power.

With how he is operating, I have no doubt that Toboni has learned a lot from the three small market teams that are still alive. There are unique things that each team does well, but there are also aspects of the game that tie all of them together.

These teams have shown the value of pitching. All four teams that are still alive have elite pitching staffs. The Nats are not there yet, but with all the trades he has made, Toboni clearly understands the importance of building a deep and nasty pitching staff.

There is actually a fun video I watched which argued that the Nats are taking a lot of things from the Brewers. From how they develop players to how they build the roster, there are things that the two clubs share. It took the Brewers a little while to become the well oiled machine they are today. Hopefully the Nats can get to that level as an organization.

Despite the fact smaller market teams are thriving, that is not an excuse to not use the free agent market. It should not be how you build the team, but free agency is a great way to augment the roster. In the last great era of Nats baseball, we saw that on full display. Jayson Werth, Max Scherzer, Daniel Murphy, Patrick Corbin and Anibal Sanchez were among the free agents who played big roles in making the team special in the 2010’s.

There should be money to spend this offseason. If that money is spent wisely, this team could take the next step quickly. When I look at some of these offenses in October, I am confident that the Nats are better than many of them. The numbers and the eye test show that. However, the pitching still needs to catch up.

When you watch a team like the Guardians, you can really see the value of an elite bullpen. Cade Smith just locks games down in the 8th and 9th innings. The Nats will either have to develop or acquire a true alpha in the back end. 

Each of the teams still in the hunt have elite bullpen arms, but the way they were acquired differs. The Dodgers spent a lot of money to acquire the likes of Tanner Scott and Edwin Diaz. However, they also developed Edgardo Henriquez and picked up Alex Vesia in a minor move. The Rays got Bryan Baker in a medium sized trade and made an already good reliever elite. 

There are a lot of ways to build bullpens, but the Nats need to have a good one to reach their potential. In October, you need a lot of solid arms. The teams that can develop the most arms are the ones that tend to have success. This postseason has shown us that you do not have to break the bank to have success. However, you need good pitching and it might take a big move or two for the Nats to have the necessary firepower to compete.

Teams that know each other well—having met in this same stage a year ago—the Dodgers and Brewers open the National League Championship Series with a battle on the mound that’s unparalleled. On one side, one of the more accomplished current stars on the mound in Tarik Skubal for the Dodgers; on the other, the likely future Cy Young winner, Jacob Misiorowski.

Both teams did what was expected of them in advancing in the NLDS, but neither had what you’d describe as an easy time. Heading into such an important moment, these two organizations will feel battle-tested—not only for what they’ve faced in the grand scheme of things over these past two seasons, but in particular for how hard they were pushed by the Braves and Padres.

As far as the Dodgers’ choice to roll with Skubal as their leading starter in this postseason, the benefits of having Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitching second in a seven-game series have been well-documented—integral to this decision. Last time a Cy Young-winner left-handed ace opened a playoff series against the Brewers; things worked out well, as Blake Snell dominated in Milwaukee to kick off last year’s NLCS.

Counting the regular season and playoffs, the Brewers take the field for Game 1 of the NLCS, having won each of Misiorowski’s last 10 starts, including one at Dodger Stadium in which he tossed six innings of one-run ball. Dominant anywhere, The Miz had as many earned runs allowed at home (16) as he had starts (16) in the regular season.

Beyond the imponderable that surrounds any baseball game, especially in the playoffs, anything besides a pitcher’s duel here would be downright shocking. There is really no way to put it. First and foremost, it’ll be about the small victories for these two offenses, forcing an extra pitch or two, and putting a bit of pressure on the basepaths—more so the Brewers. Misiorowski had some issues with his pitch count in Game 1 of the NLDS, exiting after four as he was averaging 22 pitches per inning versus the Friars.

NLCS Game 1 info

• Teams: No. 2 seed Dodgers at No. 1 seed Brewers
• Series: First game
• Ballpark: American Family Field, Milwaukee
• Start time: 5:15 p.m.
• TV: FOX (Joe Davis, John Smoltz, Ken Rosenthal, Tom Verducci, and Tom Rinaldi)
• National radio: ESPN Radio (Jon Sciambi, Doug Glanville)
• Local English radio: AM 570 (Stephen Nelson, Rick Monday)
• Local Spanish radio: KTNQ 1020 AM (José Mota, Luis Cruz)

After pitching in a combined 40 games with the Athletics the past two seasons, Grant Holman spent the spring getting passed from team to team. The A’s placed him on waivers in February, and he was claimed by the Diamondbacks. After failing to make their major league roster to start the season, he was placed on waivers again and claimed by the Dodgers.

He lasted ten days with the Dodgers before returning to the waiver wire where he was claimed by the Tigers. He appeared in three minor league games for them before once again going on waivers. This time, it was the Phillies’ turn to claim him. They sent him to Lehigh Valley where he spent the majority of the season but did manage to make up to the big league team for one appearance.

The stats: 1 game, 0.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0 K, 1 BB

What went right

Holman was solid for Lehigh Valley in the second half of the season. Oddly, it seemed to correspond with a downturn in his strikeouts.

When he finally made his Phillies debut late in the season, he didn’t give up any earned runs. Sounds good, right?

What went wrong

Holman was called up to the majors in September. When Jesus Luzardo was scratched from his start, the Phillies had to use a bullpen game, and Holman made his Phillies debut. It didn’t go well.

He faced seven batters. Four of them got hits, one walked and another reached base on an error. He also allowed a stolen base and threw a wild pitch before finally retiring the final batter of the inning. Despite seven runners scoring while he was in the game, none of them were earned runs charged to Holman.

To sum: Holman pitched 0.1 innings for the Phillies, allowed zero earned runs, yet still racked up -0.5 wins above replacement.

Later in the month, it was reported that he had been recalled as an injury replacement, but then the Phillies decided against it.

The future

It seems a given that Holman will be dropped from the 40-man roster and will once again find himself on the waiver wire. He’s only 26 years of age, so it seems likely that some team will offer him a minor league invite to camp. If the Phillies liked what they saw from him in the minors, it’s possible that it could be them.

On Sunday night, the NLCS gets underway between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Milwaukee Brewers.

This is a rematch of the 2025 NLCS, which saw the Dodgers sweep the Brewers in four games, on their way to a second straight World Series title.

Can the Dodgers keep their three-peat hopes alive, or will the Brewers finally get back to the World Series for the first time since they lost the 1982 World Series?

Here is everything you need to know about the 2026 NLCS.

NLCS schedule and scores

Here is the full schedule for the NLCS between the Dodgers and the Brewers. All times listed are Eastern.

NLCS Game 1: Sunday, October 11

Dodgers at Brewers, 8:00 p.m., FOX

NLCS Game 2: Monday, October 12

Dodgers at Brewers, 5:00 p.m., FOX/FS1

NLCS Game 3: Wednesday, October 14

Brewers at Dodgers, 8:00 p.m., FS1

NLCS Game 4: Thursday, October 15

Brewers at Dodgers, 9:00 p.m., FS1

NLCS Game 5: Friday, October 16*

Brewers at Dodgers, 9:00 p.m., FS1

NLCS Game 6: Sunday, October 18*

Dodgers at Brewers, 8:00 p.m., FS1

NLCS Game 7: Monday, October 19*

Dodgers at Brewers, 8:00 p.m., FOX

* – If necessary

What happened in the regular season?

The NLCS will be the third series between the Brewers and the Dodgers this season.

The two teams met for a series in late May, for a three-game set in Milwaukee. The Brewers took the first game of that series, getting five scoreless innings from starter Logan Henderson en route to a 5-1 win in the opener.

But then the Dodgers bats came alive, as Los Angeles won the second game of the series 11-3, and took the rubber match by a final score of 5-1.

The second series between these two teams came back in mid-August in Los Angeles. But this time it was the Brewers winning the series, taking a 5-4 win in the first game by hanging three earned runs on closer Edwin Diaz in the top of the ninth. After dropping the second game 3-1, Milwaukee won the third game by a final score of 4-2, and once more it was a strong outing from Henderson on the bump that helped the Brewers clinch the series with a 6-2 win.

Milwaukee won four of the seven meetings in the regular season.

But as we saw last year, the season series matters little in the playoffs. A year ago the Brewers swept the Dodgers, winning all six regular-season games.

But Los Angeles swept the Brewers in the NLCS, on their way to a return to the World Series.

NLCS prediction

Picking either team feels like a chalky selection.

On the one side, you have the Dodgers. A team seeking a three-peat — which would be one of just a few in MLB history — bringing a $339-million payroll to the table, ranking second in the majors behind only the New York Mets.

While the Brewers might not have the same financial power, Milwaukee not only won the season series, but were the best team in the regular season and secured home-field advantage for this series, as the top team in the National League. And unlike the NLCS from a season ago, the Brewers are in a better position with their pitching staff for this series.

And that will make the difference.

Last year, Milwaukee was pushed to a five-game series against the Chicago Cubs in the NLDS, and needed to start Jacob Misiorowski in Game 5 to keep their playoff hopes alive. That led to the Brewers running out reliever Aaron Ashby ahead of an injured Quinn Priester, who would be diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome after the series, for Game 1 against the Dodgers.

This year, the Brewers have their rotation set to begin the NLCS. Misiorowski will get the ball for Game 1 and Henderson, who has yet to give up three runs or more in any of his 24 starts over the regular season and the playoffs, is in line for Game 2.

There will be questions after that, but the Brewers are in a much better position to begin this year’s NLCS matchup against the Dodgers.

Also, there is the Shohei Ohtani factor. Last year the superstar delivered arguably one of the best individual performances in NLCS history in Game 4, when he blasted a trio of home runs while striking out ten as the starting pitcher as the Dodgers closed out the sweep.

Ohtani’s lingering injuries forced the Dodgers to shut him down as a pitcher, so only the Brewers hurlers will have to worry about him in the NLCS. But he has cooled off at the plate recently, after what was a scorching-hot June. In August he posted a slash line of .241/.322/.472, and over four games against the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS, Ohtani is 2-for-13 with a pair of singles, for a slash line of .154/.267/.154.

Certainly the Dodgers ahve more than just Ohtani, who was dropped to fifth in the batting order for Game 3, his lowest position in the lineup for his entire Dodgers tenure, but the trendline is concerning.

This should be a close series, and we expect it to go seven games.

But give us the Brewers to move in.

Prediction: Brewers in seven.

And then there were four! We’re down to the last four teams vying for the World Series, and by the middle of next week, we’ll have that matchup set. The Brewers are set to take on the Dodgers for the National League pennant, while the American League features the Rays against the Guardians.

This space will remain open through the entire NLCS/ALCS, so feel free to use it as a place to centralize your discussion, especially when it comes to the Rays-Guardians series.

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Cleveland Guardians (TBS & HBO Max)

The Rays steamrolled through their division rival Yankees, as the only team to sweep in the Division Series round. That means they’re set up extremely well for the ALCS, as they’ve only used three starting pitchers and their entire pitching staff should be rested up enough to pitch without issue. They’ve been pretty solid offensively with a balanced attack, as Jonathan Aranda, Junior Caminero, and Yandy Díaz lead the way. Victor Mesa Jr. and Ryan Vilade both homered in the ALDS, and they also have plenty of speed, swiping three bags in the ALDS and 164 during the regular season, good for second in the majors. On the other side, the Guardians stormed back from a 2-0 deficit in their ALDS, winning three straight (including two on the road) to take down the White Sox and advance to the ALCS. The Guardians are roughly middle of the pack on both sides of the ball, but they do have a solid top of the rotation with Parker Messick and Gavin Williams. Offensively, they’re led by potential future Hall of Famer José Ramírez.

Milwaukee Brewers vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (FOX/FS1 & FOX One)

The Brewers and Dodgers both got through the NLDS in four games, meaning they’re lined up well for the NLCS with three off days in between play. The story of this series will be the pitching, as the Brewers are anchored by Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson atop the rotation, while the Dodgers have plenty of veterans in the form of Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, and Tarik Skubal, as well as staff ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Don’t overlook these offenses either — the Dodgers have the big names in Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Andy Pages, Max Muncy, Kyle Tucker, Will Smith, and Teoscar Hernández, but the Brewers have a scrappy, young team that can give opposing defenses fits. They also have some veteran leadership in the form of Christian Yelich, William Contreras, Brice Turang, and, even though he’s only 22, outfielder Jackson Chourio, who is in his third playoff campaign. Check out our full series preview here. This should be a really fun series to watch.