MILWAUKEE – The Brewers’ tentative pitching plan for the first two games of the National League Division Series should surprise no one.
Jacob Misiorowski will go in Game 1 on Saturday, and Logan Henderson in Game 2 on Sunday.
- NLDS Game 1, presented by Booking.com: Saturday, FOX/FOX Deportes/FOX One. NOTE: If MIL faces CHC, the game will start at 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT. If MIL faces SD, the game will start at 8:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. CT/5:30 p.m. PT.
Manager Pat Murphy made clear that that’s subject to change, like anything in baseball. But it aligns with how the Brewers lined up their starters down the stretch. Misiorowski threw 5 1/3 innings against the Cardinals on Sunday to complete a season in which he led the Majors in ERA (1.80), strikeouts (252), WHIP (0.80) and posted the lowest opponents’ average (.157) on record for a qualifying pitcher in a non-shortened season. Then Henderson took the mound amid a much different atmosphere at an empty American Family Field on Tuesday to throw live batting practice during the Brewers’ first workout of their bye week.
“I think that pretty much everyone realizes that we’re going to go with Miz and Henderson predominantly,” Murphy said. “It’s obvious they’re our two top starters right now, so it will probably be the way that we go.”
Probably?
“When you have a five-game series, you’ve got to decide how you want to line that up,” Murphy said. “So there’s a lot more thought than just, ‘Well, those are their top guys, so they’ll go 1-2.’ There’s a lot more to it. You want to squeeze as much as you can out of your best guys, but you also have to read and react.”
It was equally unsurprising that he didn’t name any probable starters beyond those two, considering that Murphy was noncommittal over the weekend about Dustin May’s postseason role after the veteran struggled down the stretch. Left-hander Robert Gasser is another contender after he posted a 1.67 ERA in his final six outings, as is rookie lefty Shane Drohan in a shorter stint. And Murphy left the door open on Tuesday for left-hander Kyle Harrison to claim a spot on the NLDS roster with a strong performance during the team’s scrimmages this week.
But it all starts with Misiorowski.
“Nothing that he did on the field was as impressive to me as what he did off the field,” William Contreras said. “There was a great level of maturity that was gained throughout the offseason. This year, he came in with a plan. He knew what he wanted to do. He came prepared each and every day. And I think we saw how that worked out for him.”
The Brewers will host the winner of the Cubs-Padres NL Wild Card Series.
Roster decisions
Last year, the Brewers carried 12 pitchers and 14 position players into the NLDS against the Cubs, preferring to keep a baserunning specialist over an extra pitcher. This year, they are still debating the best alignment, according to Murphy.
“We’re right in the middle of it,” he said Tuesday afternoon. “There’s ifs and buts, pinch-hit scenarios and who will play and who won’t get that situation. Remember, in the postseason, there’s no runner at second in the extra innings, so you could have yourself a 14- or a 15-inning game.
“Obviously, the ability to score runs in the postseason overall seems to be less likely, because you’ve got the best pitchers and availability is [better] because you have more off days. You have the best teams and the best pitching, more off days. It’s important to plan for that, so we could go off the script and do it a little different.”
A roster is due on the morning of Game 1 for each round of the postseason.
Making the most of the bye
The Brewers finished with the best record in baseball for the second straight season, meaning they came into this postseason with some experience in navigating the bye week. What did they learn last year about maximizing rest while avoiding rust?
“Don’t overthink it,” said Christian Yelich. “It’s baseball practice. We’ll do our thing for a couple of days and be ready to go.”
After taking Monday off, they were back to work on Tuesday for defensive drills and live BPs from Henderson and Grant Anderson, who was activated from the 15-day injured list on Monday. More intense activities are planned for Wednesday and Thursday, when the stadium will be closed to the media. Then Friday brings another workout open to the press.
“You know, the first word that comes to mind is authentic,” Murphy said when talking about their week of preparation. “You don't try to contrive or recreate real at-bats, because you're not going to get those. For years I've heard managers and players say, 'That layoff killed us! We just got out of our rhythm!' That's real. That could happen. But it really comes down to the ballplayers, and comes down to their understanding or awareness, and their willingness to say, 'Look, I've got to stay on it.' Today, maybe not. But probably starting [Wednesday], and for sure Thursday and Friday, 'Let me get back in that game mode, that competitive mode, that fight mode.'
“This isn't going to be achieved just because we won a bunch of [regular season] games and it looks good on paper. We've never been that team. We've never been that team that is [best] on paper, so we can't be that team now. We have to get that hunger and reach down and understand how difficult this journey is.”
Last call
• First baseman Andrew Vaughn, who landed on the 10-day injured list over the weekend after a nasty bout of flu-like symptoms on the last road trip, took live at-bats against Henderson and is a full participant this week. But third baseman Joey Ortiz was not. The Brewers are taking a cautious approach after Ortiz finished the season with abdominal, groin and right knee injuries.
• Brandon Woodruff completed a five-week throwing program on Sunday, but was still awaiting a final opinion from his surgeon, Dr. Keith Meister, about whether he should try throwing off the mound in a long-shot effort to pitch again this season should the Brewers advance deep into October.
• Pitchers Coleman Crow, Colton Gordon and Garrett Stallings, catcher Darrien Miller and infielder Jonathan Ornelas are with the Brewers this week as extra players.
• This week is still a workweek for the Brewers, but they are mixing in some fun, including a team dinner on the stadium’s club level on Tuesday evening. A mentalist visited the clubhouse to entertain players, including Abner Uribe, who was wowed when the man was able to guess the name of a friend Uribe had in his mind.
“I don’t like magic,” Uribe said, shaking his head.