The Brewers used an \u2018opener\u2019 to start Game 1 of the NLCS and will probably do that multiple times during the series. Manager Dave Roberts says the Dodgers anticipate this and will adjust when necessary.<\/b>
\nThey opened Game 5 of their Division Series with their closer and they opened Game 1 of the National League Championship Series with an opener. The Milwaukee Brewers\u2019 idea of pitching roles is fluid to say the least.
The only given is likely to be Freddy Peralta. The staff ace will start Game 2 against the Dodgers \u2013 and probably Game 7 if the series goes the distance.
\u201cWe\u2019re going to have to piece it together. That\u2019s how we do it,\u201d Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. \u201cIt\u2019s patchwork. It\u2019s proven to be pretty good. Yelly (Christian Yelich) calls it the collection of misfit toys.\u201d
Actually, they fit pretty well. The Brewers had the lowest ERA in the National League during the regular season (3.58).
The choice of left-hander Aaron Ashby to open for Quinn Priester in Game 1 against the Dodgers was an obvious one. Murphy has said the gameplan against Shohei Ohtani is to feed him as many left-handed pitchers as possible.
\u201cIt makes the other team make a choice \u2013 Do you want to bat those guys there, and you\u2019re going to get a leverage matchup early on,\u201d Murphy said.
\u201cI do think there\u2019s also a little softer landing for a rookie pitcher (Priester is actually in his second year). I\u2019m not sure those factors are that big, but it\u2019s basically now the true starter may not have to face those opposite-hand sluggers more than twice, because we all know the numbers about three times around.\u201d
There is no choice for the Dodgers \u2013 Ohtani is batting leadoff, regardless of the opposing pitcher. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has moved Freddie Freeman down to fourth in the lineup against left-handed starters, making an opposing left-hander face two right-handed hitters (Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernandez) if he\u2019s going to stay in for both Ohtani and Freeman.
Freeman batted fourth in Game 1.
\u201cThe strength of this team currently is their \u2019pen,\u201d Roberts said of the Brewers. \u201cSo how do they take down as many outs from their \u2019pen as possible is probably their M.O. It\u2019s not unpredictable. We\u2019re expecting it.
\u201cI do feel that we have a lot of guys on our team that are pretty neutral (against right- and left-handed pitching). So it\u2019s going to be hard to set up lanes for them to get sort of matchups consistently. I feel we\u2019re equipped to take on anything they throw at us.\u201d
The Dodgers added right-hander Ben Casparius to their pitching staff for the NLCS.
They went with 11 pitchers (plus Shohei Ohtani) on their NLDS roster against the Philadelphia Phillies. For the longer best-of-seven NLCS they are going with 12 pitchers (plus Ohtani). Dropped from the roster to make room for Casparius was catcher Dalton Rushing.
The Dodgers carried three catchers for the NLDS because Will Smith was returning from a hand injury and wasn\u2019t ready to catch nine innings until Game 3 of the series. Smith is expected to catch full-time in the NLCS.
\u201cWe felt that Will is in a good spot (and) \u2026 we don\u2019t need to protect him to have a third catcher,\u201d Roberts said.
Casparius was 7-5 with a 4.64 ERA and two saves in a swingman role for the Dodgers this season (43 relief appearances, three starts). He finished the season in Triple-A, where he had a 3.38 ERA in five appearances.\u201cBen obviously was big for us this year. (But he) had gotten off track a little bit,\u201d Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. \u201cSo we sent him down and challenged him with what to work on. And he did.
\u201cYou can go one of two ways when those moments happen. And he chose the path of attacking exactly what we\u2019d kind of laid out for him and put himself in a really good spot.\u201d
Murphy continued to push the idea that the small-market Brewers are the scrappy underdogs in this NLCS matchup \u2013 despite winning more games than the Dodgers or anyone else in MLB during the regular season.
\u201cI\u2019m sure that most Dodger players can\u2019t name eight guys on our roster,\u201d Murphy said Monday. \u201cNo offense to them, they shouldn\u2019t have to know the names. But these are some guys that hopefully they know their names by the time it\u2019s over. You never know.\u201d
Roberts continued to roll his eyes at Murphy\u2019s gamesmanship.
\u201cThat\u2019s just kind of how Murph is,\u201d Roberts said before Game 1. \u201cHe tries to get into the psyche, and he\u2019s telling his team the opposite, right, in the clubhouse, behind closed doors. So we know the act.
\u201cWe\u2019re prepared. We\u2019re playing good baseball and we expect the same out of those guys. And all the talk isn\u2019t going to really factor in once the game starts.\u201d
Friedman made a brief attempt at stealing underdog status, pointing out the Brewers won all six meetings during the regular season.
\u201cYeah, we\u2019re just looking to win a game against them,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cGoing 0-6 in the regular season \u2026 we earned it, we deserved it.\u201d
NLCS Game 2: Dodgers (RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 1-1, 2.53 ERA) at Brewers (RHP Freddy Peralta, 1-1, 4.66 ERA), Tuesday, 5:08 p.m., TBS\/Tru TV\/HBO Max, 570 AM<\/p>\n