This year's National League Championship Series features a true clash of titans. The Los Angeles Dodgers are the reigning back-to-back World Series champions aiming to become the first team to win three straight titles since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees. The Milwaukee Brewers are the best team in baseball with 103 wins in the regular season and a league-best run differential of plus-214.
Throw in the headline-grabbing payroll and market-size disparities between the two teams, and you've got a compelling matchup of last year's NLCS that's also rich in subplots. To set the scene for what figures to be a thriller of a series, CBS Sports' baseball experts are here to make their picks for the Dodgers-Brewers duel that begins Sunday night in Milwaukee. You'll find those predictions just below.
Axisa: The Brewers are better than last year and the Dodgers are worse than last year, but I still think the Dodgers are more dangerous in a short postseason series. There is so much power throughout the lineup and big swings win you games in the postseason. Maybe the Brewers can be the exception (they have hit for much more power the last few weeks), but I always lean toward the offense better able to hit the ball out of the park.
The Dodgers have the rotation advantage as well, particularly once you get to the No. 3 and 4 starters, and that matters now that we're in best-of-seven territory. Dread it, run from it, the Dodgers arrive all the same. Pick: Dodgers in 6 Feldman: I think this is going to be a tight series, but it's all going to come down to the pitching and the Dodgers just outduel the Brewers, even with a 1-2 punch of Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson.
Los Angeles still isn't getting much (if anything) from Shohei Ohtani and yet they keep winning anyway. And as always, power wins in October. Pick: Dodgers in 6 McWilliams: What the Brewers do in the regular season is impressive, no doubt, but October is a different sport.
Give them Game 1 with Jacob Misiorowski. After that, it's hard to see a path. The Dodgers roll out elite arms and a lineup that punishes any mistake.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
