After the victories of the Yankees, Dodgers, Cubs and Tigers in the wild card games, the Major League Baseball postseason enters a new dimension with the Division Series, the prelude to the battles for the pennants in each circuit. These will be electric duels, five games to win three, so there is not much room for recovery if you start on the wrong foot.
In the American League, the Yankees will face the Blue Jays and the Tigers will face the Mariners, while in the National League, the Dodgers will face the Phillies and the Brewers will face the Cubs.
The action will begin in Milwaukee, where the Brewers will try to prove that they were not the best team in 2025 by chance. Pat Murphy’s team will be looking to advance to the Championship Series for the first time since 2018, although they will have to overcome the inspired Cubs, who defeated the Padres in the Wild Card.
The morbid curiosity of the series is served, because Craig Counsell, the current Chicago manager, managed the Brewers for eight years (2015-2023), leading them to the postseason in five of those campaigns.
Honours
- Milwaukee Brewers: No World Series and no National League title. They are one of five teams to never win a championship along with the Padres, Mariners, Rays and Rockies
- Chicago Cubs: 3 World Series, 17 National League titles. They had not played a postseason game since 2020, but on their return they managed to defeat the Padres 2-1 in the Wild Card Series
Head-to-head
- Historic showdown: 230 wins for the Brewers, 226 wins for the Cubs in the regular season.
- Matchup in 2025: six wins for the Brewers and seven for the Cubs.
- Postseason meetings: They have never crossed paths in the playoffs.
The stars
Christian Yelich (Brewers)
Milwaukee will begin the postseason with Freddy Peralta on the mound, one of the best pitchers of 2023. The Dominican did not allow more than two runs in nine of his last 10 appearances, so he is a guarantee to start the playoffs. However, in a short series Peralta may only have one opportunity to contribute, unlike Christian Yelich, who will be in the lineup every day as one of the most important hitters on the team.
Yelich had a very consistent campaign, with 50 extra-base hits, 29 home runs, 103 RBIs, 88 runs scored and an OPS of .795. If the lefty produces at his highest level, the Brewers will be a real threat.
Pete Crow-Armstrong (Cubs)
The Cubs hadn’t had a 30-homer, 30-steal player since Sammy Sosa did it in 1993 and 1995. It took 30 years and now the young outfielder, who is a spectacle defending center field, has done it. However, there are doubts about PCA, who has had two faces.
In the first half of the season, he was a true MVP candidate (25 home runs, 27 steals, 71 RBIs and an .847 OPS) and then he went completely cold (just five home runs and a .634 OPS in the second half of 2025). In the Wild Card Series, something similar happened to him: in the first two games he went unnoticed, but in the last and decisive game he gave three hits, stole a base and shone in defense. It may be a bit risky to place him as the Cubs’ star, but the boy has shown personality and can take the lead when it matters.
The keys
If there is one thing that distinguishes the Brewers and Cubs, it is their team performance. Although they have stars with the individual ability to change the outcome of a game, it is the collective factor that is most decisive in their aspirations. To give you an idea, Milwaukee was the team that had the most players (12) with an OPS higher than .745, followed by Chicago (9).
We are also talking about two very aggressive teams on the bases (they were the two that stole the most in the regular season), with multiple records to produce runs and put opposing defenses in trouble. With such similar styles, pitching can make the difference and perhaps the Brewers have a little more depth, not forgetting the fact that they have their entire staff rested by not playing the wild card.
Prediction
Brewers win 3-1
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