NLCS Dodgers/Brewers - 2025

[smg58]

He's not a king, he's the emperor.

[MFS62]

'Tis a puzzlement.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

I suppose that, in addition to talking about Ohtani, we should also say a few words about the Brewers too.



These last two post-seasons have got to be rough on them, but particularly this one.

93 wins last season followed by a first-round exit to a WC team who got in by the skin of their teeth and who came in with less than no rest. And then there's the whole blown two-run/9th inning lead thing to swallow. This year they upped their game to an MLB-best 97 wins. But they then went 2-6 including losing the final four straight while scoring a total of four runs [1, 1, 1, and 1] to a team they had swept (6-0) during the season.



Smaller/mid-market teams often have smaller windows to pull off a WS win (or even a trip there) so it gets tougher to say 'there's always next year' when you don't know how much longer you'll be able to keep the gang together and/or adequately replace the ones you're losing. Cincy & Chicago were on the upswing this year. Can Milwaukee hold them off again next season?





I also said (somewhere in this forum) that I thought the Dodgers were more vulnerable this year than in recent years and, for a while they seemed to be just that. After starting the season 8-0 they were barely north of .500 over the next 134 games going 70-64 / .522 over a span constituting more than 80% of the season. Their starters were often hurt and their pen was more than a bit iffy. Their RA/G landed them just one slot ahed of the Mets in the NL if that puts it in perspective [8th / 4.22 RA/G vs 9th / 4.41].

But they then quickly reversed course by finishing September 15-5 and have now gone 9-1 in the post (can I interest anyone in a 24-6 September/October runs?). Snell, Glasnow, and Ohtani (as a pitcher) returning certainly helped, and now moving Sasaki to the pen after his less than stellar inaugural MLB season is stabilizing the back end of their post-season games.





I'll be rooting for whoever comes out of the AL half of the bracket, but I'm not liking the odds.