Brewers Possess Huge Competitive Advantage Entering NL Wild Card Series

Whoever they face, the Brew Crew will have a big leg up

Sep 26, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio (11) and center fielder Blake Perkins (16) celebrate in the outfield after defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. The Brewers won 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Hope springs eternal for every playoff team at the beginning of October, and that even includes teams that have never won a World Series.

The Milwaukee Brewers are one of those teams. They've been to the Fall Classic once before, but they've never known the joy of lifting the Commissioner's Trophy. And 2024 may be the best chance they've ever had to get the job done.

The Brewers were the first team to clinch a division title in 2024, thanks to the struggles of the rest of the National League Central. But they're also guaranteed to have the worst record of the three NL division winners, behind the star-heavy Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies.

This means the Brewers are locked into the three seed, and will have to brave the NL Wild Card series. But there's a huge competitive advantage to knowing they'll be in a best-of-three starting on Tuesday at home. The three teams they could face (Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Mets, Atlanta Braves) have no idea if they'll be making it, or where they'll be heading.

As Brewers beat reporter Adam McCalvy of MLB.com explained Thursday night, it also means the Brewers can set up their starting pitching rotation any way they want heading into the Wild Card series.

"The Brewers will surely start Freddy Peralta in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series, but after that there’s a case for any of Frankie Montas, Tobias Myers, Colin Rea and Civale," McCalvy said.

Montas has been announced as Friday night's starter against the Mets, while the Brewers have left the Saturday and Sunday games listed as TBD. That means as of right now, any of the names listed above are on the table for a Game 2 next Wednesday.

The rest advantage didn't matter for the Brewers last season, when they lined up then-ace Corbin Burnes against Diamondbacks rookie Brandon Pfaadt. But it could just as easily catapult Milwaukee to a series victory this time around.

It's high time the Brewers do some damage in October after all these dominant regular seasons. The stars may well be aligning for 2024 to be their year to make a deep run.

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