MILWAUKEE\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The National League Championship Series starts Sunday. The series could have been decided on Aug. 1.<\/p>\n
That was the day the Dodgers traded for Tarik Skubal<\/a>. The Milwaukee Brewers wanted him badly<\/a>, but they declined to include a promising young pitcher in the deal.<\/p>\n So, on Sunday, the scenario the Brewers most hoped to avoid comes true: Instead of starting for them in Game 1 of the NLCS, Skubal starts against them<\/a>.<\/p>\n If the Dodgers<\/a> win the series, the Milwaukee winter could be cold and long, with fans tortured by visions of Skubal and presumptive Cy Young winner Jacob Misiorowski starting four games in the series.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, that wouldn\u2019t be very fun to come in here and face Miz then Skubal,\u201d Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said.<\/p>\n Instead, the Dodgers could get four starts out of Skubal and Yoshinobu Yamamoto<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery night when you play these guys, you know you\u2019re going to face a Cy Young-caliber pitcher,\u201d Brewers captain Christian Yelich<\/a> said. \u201cIt\u2019s the reason why they\u2019ve been so good as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n In the alternate reality, the Dodgers start Yamamoto \u2014 perhaps the world\u2019s best big-game pitcher<\/a> \u2014 followed by Blake Snell<\/a>, Tyler Glasnow<\/a> and maybe Emmet Sheehan<\/a>. Snell and Glasnow each starred last October, but each walked five in his division series start while failing to complete five innings.<\/p>\n In actual reality, the Brewers are expected to follow Misiorowski with rookie Logan Henderson, with whom they would not part in the Skubal trade. That\u2019s no easy assignment for the Dodgers: Henderson posted a 2.47 earned-run average in 18 games this season, better than Yamamoto (2.53) and Skubal (2.72).<\/p>\n If Henderson can outshine the bigger names, the Brewers could be OK. But, if the Brewers fall behind in the series, they could be faced with coming back behind the likes of ex-Dodger Dustin May and rookie Robert Gasser.<\/p>\n Not surprisingly, Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold had little to say about his team facing Skubal in Game 1 rather than trading for him \u2014 and keeping him away from the Dodgers.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery team was looking to acquire good players at the deadline,\u201d Arnold said, \u201cand, ultimately, they landed a really good one there in Tarik Skubal.\u201d<\/p>\n Said Misiorowski: \u201cThe dude\u2019s insane. I\u2019m just hoping that these guys can do their job and handle business with him and let me do my thing and try to get that side taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n