#MLBVideos: Cubs-Brewers NLDS Preview: Battle of the NL Central in the DS!

Cubs-Brewers NLDS Preview: Battle of the NL Central in the DS!

Another NLDS is set. The Chicago Cubs versus the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday at 2 p.m. Eastern. Did you know that Wrigley Field and American Family Field are just 90 miles apart from each other? That’s an hour and a half in a car. An 8hour bike ride. If you hop on one foot, depending on how big your foot is, it could maybe take you less than 24 hours. I don’t know. Try it out. Either way, the two teams are in close proximity, a factor that adds to their already heated NL Central rivalry. Craig Council spent nine years as manager of the Brewers before switching over to the Cubs last season, handing his friend and bench coach Pat Murphy the job. They know each other inside and out. Overall, the teams are also very close in how they match up. The Cubs won the season series 7 to6. And get this, in their history of playing against each other, the Brewers hold the slightest of advantages at 230 to 226. And this will be the very first time they face off in the postseason. Let’s break it down. Game one, the Brewers should probably hold the advantage. They have Freddy Peralta on the mound. Peralta had a career best season going 17-6 with a 2.70 erra and 204ks. He’ll get Sai Young votes. He’s also taking care of the Cubs in 2025 going 3-1 with a 3.43 mark against them. After that, Murphy could put Quinn Pester on the hill. He was 13 and3 with a 3.32 RA. Quite the one-two punch. And then things become a bit more unclear. There’s veteran Joseé Canana who’s had another solid season. And could Brandon Woodruff be back from his latch train? Maybe, but probably not. Pat Murphy hasn’t revealed anything yet. Bullpen wise, Milwaukee has been pretty locked down all year. They recently returned fireballer Trevor McIll and have a rising star in Abner Ure. A wild card for them, the Miz. Jacob Miserowski, the man who throws faster than Vidden Diesel, drives a car in Fast and Furious. Could he be a weapon out of the bullpen or a stopper or even a long reliever? It all depends if Murphy puts him on the roster, which he seems to be leaning toward doing. The Cubs starting rotation is probably not as strong as the Brewers. Council hasn’t announced a starter as of this reporting, but it looks like Colin Ray or Javier Assad will be lined up to go. Then the rotation will swing back around for Matthew Boyd and Sha Ianaga. All fairly solid starters backed by a top defense in the NL. Danby Swanson, Nicoer up the middle are some of the best goal glovers in the game. There’s multiple gold gloves in left with Ian half and Petro Armstrong is one of the best defenders in the sport in center making the spectacular look regular on a daily basis. Jame Tyion can provide long relief out of the pen and the Cubs top relievers match up fairly well with the Brewers with maybe not as much firepower. Daniel Palencia and Brad Keller will be used in the biggest spots while 38-year-old Caleb Thebar has also been tremendous putting up a 2.64 RA in 67 games. Offensively, the Brewers and Cubs are pretty similar in the amount of runs they scored in 2025. Milwaukee holds just a 13 run advantage. But the Cubs hit way more home runs than the Brewers, 223 to 166. Home runs do sort of matter in October. And the Cubs were the best offensive team in the NL by team OPS Plus. Sea Suzuki has been hot, hitting a homer and two doubles in the wild card series. Pete Crow Armstrong, who tailed off in the second half, had three hits in the wild card finale. And him getting hot could be huge for Chicago. The Cubs also think Kyle Tucker, who struggled with injuries this year, could be morphing back into his MVP level self again. Milwaukee needs to get power from Bryce Terra, who showed some during the second half, doubling his home run total from before the All-Star break. Andrew Vaughn is another slugger that they’ll look to to contribute. And hey, can playoff Jackson Turio show up again this year? Turo had five hits and 11 at bats last October against the Mets with two homers and three RBI’s. What we do know is both teams will be stealing bases. They were 1-2 in the National League. Brewers had 164. Cubs had 161. Keep your eyes on those runners leading off first base. So, who’s going to win? It’ll be a series that likely goes five games in this best of five series. They match up so well on defense and base running, even their pitching is more or less in the same arena together. But the Cubs high-powered clutch offense might be too much for the Brewers to handle, particularly if Woodruff isn’t available in the rotation. Start building those beer snakes. Ridleyfield, Cubs in five, and onto the NLCS.

Seiya Suzuki, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Shota Imanaga and the Cubs prepare to take on Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio, Freddy Peralta and the Brewers in a crucial battle during the National League Division Series.

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