The Milwaukee Brewers think they’ve found their path to toppling the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Their plan starts with ace Jacob Misiorowski leading the charge. But it’s their potential No. 2 starter who could make all the difference – and he’s not even on the roster yet.
The Brewers are among several clubs eyeing Tarik Skubal, the back-to-back AL Cy Young Award winner from the Detroit Tigers. Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer ranked Milwaukee as a top-five landing spot for Skubal, who’s posted a 2.70 ERA and 3.0 bWAR in 15 starts this season.
“Skubal and Misiorowski would form a basically unbeatable 1-2 punch, and that may be what Milwaukee needs to get past those pesky Dodgers.”
The logic makes sense. Milwaukee isn’t going to slug their way to a championship – their 98 home runs rank dead last in MLB. So the next-best strategy? Don’t let the other team score.
That approach feels necessary after what happened last October. The Dodgers swept Milwaukee in the NLCS, and it wasn’t particularly close. But imagine flipping that script by sending Misiorowski and Skubal to the mound for Games 1 and 2 of a postseason series.
The Competition Heats Up
Of course, Milwaukee won’t have Skubal to themselves. The Tigers are expected to field calls from several contenders in preliminary trade discussions.
The Brewers will be competing against some heavy hitters, including – ironically – the Dodgers themselves. Other clubs reportedly interested include teams looking to make their own postseason push.
What makes this particularly intriguing is the timing. The Brewers have built their success on pitching development and smart acquisitions. Adding Skubal would represent their biggest splash in years – the kind of move that signals they’re ready to go all-in on a championship window.
For a team that’s consistently competitive but hasn’t broken through, pairing Skubal with Misiorowski could be the difference between another early playoff exit and a deep October run. Sometimes it really is that simple – get better pitching than the other guy.
The question now is whether Milwaukee’s front office is willing to pay Detroit’s asking price for a pitcher who could change everything.
