It has been 44 years since the Milwaukee Brewers made an appearance in the World Series. In 1982 they were in the American League and up until now it had been their only appearance in the Fall Classic. They lost that series in 7 games and have been clamoring to get another chance at winning a title. This will be the Tampa Bay Rays third appearance in the World Series. Their last opportunity came in 2020 when they lost that series in 6 games. Neither Milwaukee nor Tampa Bay has won a championship. The last time there was a matchup of two teams to have never won a World Series was in 1980. The Brewers got the sweep in the NLCS against the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the Rays were down 2-1 against Cleveland and won three consecutive games to clinch their spot. Both teams were at the top of the standings in their respective leagues and both of them have built their rosters without the power of the near-limitless spending that other franchises have done for many years. A first-time champion will be crowned.
Tampa Bay Rays vs. Milwaukee Brewers
The Rays lineup was a bit silent in the first three games of the ALCS against the Cleveland Guardians. They came to life in the last three games and maybe that postponed game 4 brought them an extra day to get right. Yandy Diaz could have been named the ALCS MVP with a .333 batting average in the series. He was tied with Junior Caminero for the team lead in RBI with 4 for the series as well. Jonathan Aranda, Liam Hicks and Jonny DeLuca were right behind them with 3 RBI each. Chandler Simpson surprisingly had 3 RBI also and was elevated in the batting order to bring some extra life with his high contact rate and ludicrous speed. Freddy Peralta was ultimately named the ALCS MVP with his 0.75 ERA in his 3 appearances with 2 starts in the series. He walked 6 batters and struck out 9, but even with the high walk rate the defense playing behind was superb getting him out of many jams. Drew Rasmussen continued to prove he is the ace of this staff with a 2.08 ERA in his two starts of the series. He struck out 13 in 13 innings of work. Nick Martinez pitched a two-hit gem for the Rays in his only start of the series, but it proved pivotal on their way to the World Series. Cam Booser and closer Bryan Baker combined to give up only 2 hits in their 4 appearances with Baker picking up two saves. If Rasmussen and Peralta can get Tampa Bay off to a solid start this will bode well for their championship aspirations.
Jacob Misiorowski didn’t have an out-of-this-world start in the NLCS, but he only gave up one run in his 4-1/3 innings of work. The fact that he is here and healthy is exactly what the Brewers need. Robert Gasser and Logan Henderson did their part in their starts and will be counted on to repeat it against Tampa Bay. The bullpen is where the Brewers shined in the NLCS. Aaron Ashby got 2 saves in his 3 appearances giving up only 2 hits and striking out 6 batters. Closer Trevor Megill got the other 2 saves in his 2 appearances. JoJo Romero and DL Hall each got two wins of the 4-game sweep of the Dodgers and combined to strike out 7 batters and allowed only 2 hits in 6 combined innings of work. If this bullpen continues to be this dominant it will be a long series for the Rays. Milwaukee’s lineup can beat any team in a variety of ways. They used all of them against the Dodgers with their base running prowess, contact hitting and even their unheralded power bats. Jake Bauers was the NLCS MVP and his at-bats against Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell will be talked about for many years. He led the team with 6 RBI and batted .286. Brice Turang was constantly on base batting .364 and walking 5 times. David Hamilton batted .571 in his two games and stole 3 bases. Cooper Pratt made constant contact batting .357. Jackson Chourio had a leadoff home run in Game 3, but wasn’t a gigantic difference-maker. Yet, having him atop their lineup adds another wrinkle for opposing teams to account for. William Contreras batted .357 with a home run and 3 RBI for the series. For the entire Postseason he’s batting .367 with 3 home runs and 5 RBI. Tampa Bay will have to slow him down at the plate and avoid getting picked off by him when their trying to steal bases.
Brewers in 6 games
