The Milwaukee Brewers could be in for a rough night on Wednesday against Blake Snell.
The Dodgers are down 0-2 in the National League Championship Series but have the luxury of throwing a two-time Cy Young Award winner on the mound in Game 3. Snell dominated the Brewers in the NLCS last year, throwing eight innings of shutout ball, allowing just one hit. He will look to dominate once again to help his team avoid going down 0-3.
Snell missed most of the season, but he is an elite pitcher when he's healthy. He struggled against the Atlanta Braves in the last round, issuing five walks and lasting just 3 2/3 innings. However, the Brewers do not match up well against him.
For starters, the Brewers are not as good an offense against left-handed pitching. However, they did enough against Tarik Skubal in Game 1. Second, there are only three players on their roster who have ever recorded a hit off Snell: Christian Yelich, William Contreras, Garrett Mitchell and Gary Sánchez.
Here is how the team has done against Snell in the past, including the postseason:
- Jake Bauers: 0-for-3, 2 K, 0 BB
- Brice Turang: 0-for-4, 2 K, 0 BB
- Cooper Pratt: 0 career at-bats
- Joey Ortiz: 0-for-3, 0 K, 1 BB
- David Hamilton: 0 career at-bats
- Jackson Chourio: 0-for-5, 4 K, 0 BB
- Garrett Mitchell: 1-for-1
- Sal Frelick: 0-for-5, 1 K, 0 BB
- Luis Lara: 0 career at-bats
- Christian Yelich: 2-for-9, 4 K, 0 BB
- William Contreras: 1-for-6, 2 K, 0 BB
- Gary Sánchez: 7-for-23, 13 K, 8 BB
- Andrew Vaughn: 0-for-5, 1 K, 0 BB
Sánchez has the most experience against him, but manager Pat Murphy is not going to start him over William Contreras at catcher. The Brewers could bench Yelich again as they did against Tarik Skubal, and start a righty like Vaughn or Sánchez. However, Murphy said he was second-guessing that decision and may not do it again. Yelich has been one of the best hitters in the postseason.
However, the Brewers could play matchup elsewhere. Luis Lara will likely draw the start over Sal Frelick. Perhaps Vaughn starts the game at first base instead of Bauers, but Bauers has been good against lefties and was arguably the best hitter on the team all year.
The big matchup to watch is Chourio vs. Snell. Before the season, Chourio told "Bat Boys Baseball" that he thinks Snell is the hardest pitcher to face. He went 0-for-5 in Game 2, but in two of those at-bats he was simply trying to move a runner over. He has been a star for the Brewers this October and hits the ball very hard. Could Game 3 be when he finally figures out Snell?