Dodgers is a witch. They finally meet (again).
In a regular season marked by wide parity, the two teams stood alone. The Brewers won the most games (103) and ranked second in fWAR (48.6). The Dodgers have won the second most games (100) and are first in fWAR (53.1). By the stats you want — or even if you’d rather avoid stats all together — these were the best teams in the majors in 2026. Their National League Championship Series clash seemed inevitable from the early days of the summer.
On paper, this looks like one of the best playoff matchups. This is just the sixth time both teams in the LCS have won at least 100 games during the regular season. The most recent examples were in 2018 and 2019, when the Astros played the Red Sox and then the Yankees in the ALCS. This had not happened before since the 1970s. That said, this could be an all-time great vs. great contest – a rarity in modern baseball.
Of course, this is also a rematch. These teams met in last year’s NLCS, where the Dodgers defeated the Brewers in a four-game sweep. Los Angeles would go on to win a second straight World Series and spend the offseason once again “destroying baseball” – signing a top free agent, pushing their payroll to new heights and positioning themselves as favorites for the three-peat.
They look just as awesome in 2026. This is one of the best and most comprehensive rosters the Dodgers have ever taken into the postseason, now in their 14th straight appearance. They have a deep lineup, the best pitching staff in the league, and they’ve gotten hot at the right time.
The Dodgers’ brief stints this year — stretches that limited them to just 100 wins — were due to their star-studded lineup. Kyle Tucker struggled mightily for much of the summer, despite what his $240 million contract meant for the future of the league. Teoscar Hernández’s power disappeared for several weeks, causing him to finish 2026 with fewer than 20 homers in a full season for the first time. And Mookie Betts raised concerns that his Hall of Fame career might be over sooner than expected. The Dodgers ran a 92 wRC+ as a team in July and August, bottom 10 in the majors, without the core of their lineup producing.
It feels like the distant past now. The Dodgers offense exploded behind the trio of Tucker, Hernández and Betts, who combined for .314/.405/.586 (170 wRC+) in September. With other stars Shohei Ohtani, Max Muncy, Freddie Freeman, Andy Pages and Will Smith, this once again looks to be the deepest and scariest lineup in the majors. Los Angeles finished the season with the second-best wRC+ (111) and the fourth-most goals scored (801).
Offense isn’t even a Dodgers strength. They’ve allowed the fewest runs in the majors this year, even with an injury that kept Ohtani off the mound in the second half. Yoshinobu Yamomoto, last year’s World Series MVP, leads the rotation after another season of consistent excellence. His 2.53 ERA was fifth best in the majors. He’s followed by two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubalda, who added a second true ace to the mix by joining the team at the deadline in another “league-destroying” deal. Then there is other A two-time Cy Young winner in Blake Snell, who missed most of the season with an injury, struck out about 10% of the batters he faced upon his return and was otherwise completely untouchable.
If you had to pick one absolute weakness with these Dodgers, this is it can be be a bull There isn’t a ton of depth in the middle innings (which isn’t usually a problem since the rotation covers those innings). But even this seems to be a trend in the right direction. After a miserable August following a trip to the injured list, Edwin Díaz looked untouchable in September, giving the Dodgers four pitchers who could be closer on any other team.
Still, this Dodgers roster is strong and perhaps the best of what could be the final act of their trilogy. But it’s worth noting that they didn’t win the most games in the majors in 2026. That distinction goes to the Brewers, who are equally formidable — and perhaps the favorites of this all-time series.
Milwaukee had an even darker season after 2025 came to an abrupt end. In free agency, they subtly mixed the pieces, leaning more on their people, processes and perspectives than making big leaps. The Brewers’ front office is known as one of the most forward-thinking sets of analysts in the league, and they seem to be betting on themselves. However, the predictions did not impress. FanGraphs projected them to finish third in the NL Central; PECOTA tied them with 80 wins. Did the brewers know something that no one else could?
Well, the answer was a resounding yes. The Brewers won 103 games, reaching triple digits in the win column for the first time in franchise history. It’s hard to improve on a season in which they won the most games in the majors, but they got better in almost every area, first in run differential and second in fWAR. Still, there’s a good argument that they were the best team in the majors this year.
Offensively, the Brewers are a brutal opponent. They work the count, put the ball in play to all fields and run the bases in an unusual way. They don’t hit for a ton of power, but they can wear down an opponent through relentless pressure, as we saw them do against a very good Padres bullpen in the NLDS.
Unlike the Dodgers, it’s hard to name a true “star” of the group, but they’re certainly that deep. Brice Turang ranked fifth in the majors in fWAR as the league’s second baseman and did a little bit of everything in the field. Jackson Chourio is one of the game’s greatest young players, already having 3 20-20 seasons at just 22 years old. Then there’s first baseman Jake Bauers, who suddenly left at age 31, posting a 143 wRC+ as one of the top 10 hitters in the league. From top to bottom, every hitter on this list provides something, whether it’s defense, baserunning, or platoon production.
In the rotation, Jacob Misiorowski isn’t the Brewers’ ace as much as the league’s ace—he’s definitely the best pitcher in baseball. When he steps to the mound in Game 1, he’ll set all kinds of “fastest hitting streak in the NLCS” records. He’s inherently untouchable, possessing a ridiculous combination of speed, items, expansion, and command. Much of the discussion in this series will follow how and when the Brewers choose to use him.
Of course, some of that conversation will be necessary because Misiorowski doesn’t have a ton of rotation depth behind him. Logan Henderson is a great number two, but Dustin May has struggled since joining the team at the deadline. That’s where the Dodgers hold the edge.
Where the Brewers can take back that advantage is in the bullpen. Their relief core is very deep. Trevor Megill and Abner Uribe have been untouchable in high leverage. Aaron Ashby and DL Hall give them excellence on the left side. As a group, everyone in this group offers something the Brewers can use in the series to keep the Dodgers off balance.
I’d like to sit here and give you some “X factors” or things that might influence the series. It could be Ohtani’s return to form after coming off the injured list in September. Maybe that’s the number of shots Misiorowski can throw. But I’m not sure such a framework would do these matches justice. These are two great teams with full rosters from top to bottom. These are the best staffs and the best pitching staffs — and the best organizations overall — going head-to-head in a best-of-seven series. It’s the NLCS we’ve been waiting for all year, and it’s finally here.