For any Milwaukee Brewers fans feeling anxious or cynical entering this weekend’s four-game set with the Los Angeles Dodgers, you’ll be glad to know that manager Pat Murphy is more than willing to be the optimistic one.
The Brewers are fresh off getting swept by the surging San Diego Padres, who have moved into sole possession of the National League’s second Wild Card seed. As Murphy pointed out on Wednesday night, the 74-47 Brewers still have the NL’s best record and would have home-field advantage if the postseason began tomorrow.
The Milwaukee Brewers must figure things out before the end of August
The Dodgers and Braves are both 73-48. There is a realistic chance that the Brewers leave California having dropped to third in the playoff standings. But perhaps most concerningly, the Cubs are now only three games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central.
“You’ve got to not feel sorry for yourself and just keep your head up and not go, ‘Oh, well now we’ve got the Dodgers. They're the best team,’” Murphy told reporters after Wednesday’s 11-inning loss. “You just get opportunity after opportunity, and take advantage.”
The 2026 MLB season should be the definitive reminder of how quickly things can turn on a dime. Look no further than the Red Sox, who spent much of the season buried in the AL East but have had two extended winning streaks to claw all the way back to 64-56. Boston enters the weekend firmly holding the AL’s second Wild Card spot and would play the No. 4-seeded Yankees in the postseason.
That’s not to say that this week’s dreadful series in San Diego is guaranteed to send the Brewers on a nine-game losing streak. But this is exactly why dismissing an April loss because it’s early in the season is a ridiculously foolish mindset. The Brewers dominated through the first half and into August, thereby giving them extra cushioning to survive a summer slump.
Dodgers can put the Brewers in their place
But “slump” is the key word, because a summer “swoon” would be far more problematic. The Yankees will likely be a Wild Card team for the second straight year partly because their annual June and July slump will have cost them the division. Look how well that turned out last year when the Blue Jays knocked them out in the ALDS.
Expecting the Brewers to go 3-for-28 with runners in scoring position for the second straight series is incredibly unlikely. And to their credit, the Brew Crew still has plenty of things going its way. Dustin May has looked sharp in his first two starts, and Jacob Misiorowski carries a 1.76 ERA and an incredible 204-30 K-BB ratio into Saturday’s start at Chavez Ravine.
We’re not sounding the alarm just yet, and an NLCS rematch against the two-time defending champions is an excellent opportunity to change the narrative and get back on track. There’s a reason why the Brewers have become a postseason mainstay under both Murphy and Craig Counsell over the last decade. What they lack in payroll, they more than make up for in intangibles, heart, and talent — and eventually, that could prove to be too much even for the Dodgers.
Add us as a preferred source on Google