What Will Be The Keys To The Brewers Taking Down The Dodgers In 2026 NLCS?

"So, we meet again, Buzz Lightyear … for the last time!"

For the fourth time in nine seasons, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers will square off in the National League playoffs, as the top-seeded Brewers (103-59) defeated the San Diego Padres in the NL Division Series and the second-seeded Dodgers (100-62) beat the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS.

But the Dodgers have come out on top in each of these two teams' playoff meetings (2018 NLCS, 2020 wild-card round and 2025 NLCS), including a four-game sweep of the Brewers in last year's NLCS.

How do the Brewers flip the script? FOX Sports MLB Analyst Eric Karros has the answers.

"They come to play every single day. They grind; they don't give away anything. Offensively, I don't know if it's necessarily the hitting part as much as it's controlling the strike zone, and that means don't expand, don't chase pitches out of the zone, take your walks, be patient and just kind of wear down this Dodgers' pitching staff," Karros said about the Brewers' offense in an appearance on Thursday's edition of "The Herd. "That's really the MO that they're going to have to create offensively."

While they ultimately advanced to the NLCS on Wednesday night, the Brewers only scored 13 runs across their four games against the Padres in the NLDS. Last year, the Brewers scored just four runs against the Dodgers in the 2025 NLCS en route to being swept despite being third in MLB in both runs and hits in the regular season.

In the 2026 regular season, Milwaukee was first in the sport in hits (1,422) and on-base percentage (.341), tied for first in batting average (.258), second outright in runs (832) and tied for 10th in slugging percentage (.403). Remarkably, though, the Brewers were tied for 28th in home runs (154).

Second baseman Brice Turang has been the star of the show for Milwaukee this season, posting 23 defensive runs saved at the middle infield position, driving in a team-high 100 runs and posting 7.3 wins above replacement, which was third among MLB position players.

Elsewhere, primary first baseman Jake Bauers hit a team-high 26 home runs, while driving in 86 runs and posting a .484 slugging percentage; left fielder Jackson Chourio totaled 25 home runs, 75 RBIs, 23 stolen bases and 4.9 wins above replacement over 127 games, while posting a .291/.351/.487 slash line; Chourio hit a walk-off, two-run single in a 2-2 count with two outs in Game 2 of the NLDS; William Contreras drove in 94 runs in the regular season, which led MLB catchers, and hit two home runs in the NLDS.

All that said, as productive as Milwaukee's bats have been, pitching remains the backbone of its operation.

The Brewers' starting rotation was second in MLB in opponent batting average (.220), third outright in strikeouts (907), tied for third in WHIP (1.14) and fifth outright in ERA (3.61). Ace Jacob Misiorowski posted a 1.80 ERA, an 0.80 WHIP, a 232 ERA+ and 252 strikeouts, which were all NL-bests, over 30 starts; fellow right-hander Logan Henderson recorded a 2.47 ERA, an 0.84 WHIP and 110 strikeouts over 18 starts. Meanwhile, Milwaukee's bullpen was third in ERA (3.40) and opponent batting average (.223) and tied for fifth in WHIP (1.23).

Of course, the Brewers are facing a potent Dodgers team that's among the upper echelon of teams, if not at the top of the mountain in terms of depth.

With the bats, Los Angeles, which features the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Andy Pages and Kyle Tucker, among many others, was second in the regular season in slugging percentage (.424), third in batting average (.257) and on-base percentage (.338), fourth in runs (801) and tied for fourth in hits (1,399). The Dodgers also had the fourth-fewest strikeouts in the sport (1,267).

On the starting pitching front, the Dodgers were second in ERA (3.43) and opponent batting average (.220), tied for third in WHIP (1.14) and fourth outright in strikeouts (904).

Los Angeles, which already featured 2025 World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and right-hander Tyler Glasnow, acquired back-to-back American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers at the MLB trade deadline. Ohtani hasn't pitched since July 3 due to knee inflammation, but he has remained the Dodgers' primary designated hitter.

"From a pitching standpoint, they've got Misiorowski, who's as good as anybody and actually dominates left-handers. He's much better against left-handed hitting [.114 opponent batting average] than he is against right-handers [.209 opponent batting average]. The Dodgers are top-heavy on the left side. That could help Milwaukee," Karros said about the Brewers' pitching staff. "They also have Logan Henderson. At the end of the day, this series is going to come down to the Brewers' bullpen and matchup against the Dodgers' depth position player-wise and what [Dodgers manager] Dave Roberts creates."

Milwaukee went 4-3 against Los Angeles in the regular season, with both teams winning a series in the opponent's home ballpark. Game 1 of the 2026 NLCS is on Sunday night, with the entire series airing on FOX networks.

"I'm looking forward to the series as a fan. I think it's going to be a great series," Karros said.