The Milwaukee Brewers have secured the No. 1 seed in the National League, and their focus is now on preparing for the National League Division Series.
The Brewers will play the winner of the Wild Card Series between the National League's No. 4 and No. 5 seeds. The Brewers know who they will start in Games 1 and 2, but after that, there are serious questions about who will start. In last year's NLDS, the Brewers started Freddy Peralta twice, got two bulk outings from Jacob Misiorowski in bullpen games and started Quinn Priester in what turned into a pure bullpen game in a series that took five games.
In all likelihood, the Brewers will start Jacob Misiorowski in Game 1, Logan Henderson in Game 2, Robert Gasser in Game 3 and go with a bullpen game in Game 4, if needed, leaning on Dustin May, Sane Drohan or Chad Patrick as bulk options. The Brewers would have Misiorowski on five days of rest for Game 5 if it gets there.
Gasser has been one of the Brewers' best starters in September, but May has the postseason experience. The Brewers may roll with May on a short leash in Game 3, but one of them will need to step up and answer the call. Regardless, similar to last season, Pat Murphy could lean on his bullpen heavily in a game where he does not feel comfortable with his starter. Last season, the Brewers really only had Peralta, but this year they have Misiorowski and Henderson.
The biggest benefit for the Brewers is that they will not be seeing the Game 1 starter from the Wild Card Series in Game 1 against Misiorowski. The Wild Card Series starts on Tuesday, so whoever starts Game 1 of that series will not be ready to go on Oct. 3 when the NLDS starts.
Brewers fans should expect some combination of Gasser and May in Games 3 and 4, but be ready for a heavy dose of the bullpen in those games.