The Milwaukee Brewers ripped through the regular season, winning a franchise-record 103 games and posting the best run differential in all of Major League Baseball. Forget what you heard last year about the Dodgers making quick work of them, because this year’s National League Championship Series rematch is anything but a David versus Goliath story. Neither team is buying that narrative, and honestly, why would they?
Milwaukee Ain’t Backing Down
Seriously, these Brewers aren’t just good, they’re straight-up dominant. They ran away with the NL Central by a ridiculous 14 games. Their offense had the highest batting average and on-base percentage in baseball, period. And on the mound? Their pitching staff ranked second in ERA and strikeouts. This isn’t some underdog story anymore. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts himself knows it. He said, “They have the best record in baseball. They have that for a reason. And they’ve got home-field advantage. We’ve got to play our best baseball. They’re certainly not afraid of us.” Roberts even called out their starting pitcher for Game 1 as the guy who’s going to win the Cy Young. When a back-to-back World Series champ manager says that, you know it’s real.
Jacob Misiorowski: From Bullpen Uncertainty To Cy Young Ace
That Cy Young guy Roberts is talking about? Jacob Misiorowski. And what a turnaround it’s been for the 24-year-old. Last October, during Game 3 of the NLCS, he was just a relief guy, battling it out and striking out nine Dodger batters in five innings of one-run ball. He’d been struggling, relegated to the bullpen, wondering if he’d even make the roster. But that performance right there? That was the fire. That was the moment he grabbed momentum and slingshotted himself into one of the most dominant starting pitching seasons MLB has ever seen. Misiorowski totally gets it too. He told us, “Going into last year’s postseason, I didn’t know if I was going to be on the roster. I didn’t know if I was going to make it and help the team. This year, they trust me a little bit more.” The Brewers organization itself said he was a “thrower” last year. Now? He’s a “pitcher,” plain and simple. He’s learned to harness that otherworldly velocity, cutting his walk rate nearly in half and adding serious heat to his arsenal. We’re talking a fastball that averages over 100 mph, hitting 105 mph. Max Muncy, the Dodgers’ third baseman, ain’t fooling himself about facing that heat. He put it perfectly: “I don’t know if there’s any advantage to seeing a guy that throws 105. He’s going to mix it. He’s going to be amped up and coming at us with everything he’s got.” This core group, with Misiorowski leading the charge, has that experience from last year to lean on.
Misiorowski is slated to start Game 1 for the Brewers, the guy Dave Roberts himself called the NL Cy Young winner. You know the Dodgers are going to bring everything they’ve got, but the Brewers, with their record-setting season and an ace pitching like this, are absolutely ready to throw down. This NLCS is going to be wild.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Fox Sports.
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