In Game 1 of the NLCS against the Dodgers, the Milwaukee Brewers will be going with a familiar face on the mound. Left-hander Aaron Ashby will once again toe the rubber as an opener, a role he filled in Game 2 of the NLDS versus the Cubs and at various points during his Brewers career as a reliever. Milwaukee had other options to turn to – Quinn Priester and Jose Quintana chief among them – but giving Ashby the ball in Game 1 is a harbinger of how the Brewers will approach pitching all series long.
Ashby choice no shocker for Brewers fans
On the NLCS roster, the Brewers only have three bona fide postseason starters: Freddy Peralta, Priester, and Quintana. Brandon Woodruff remains out with a back injury. Guys like Jacob Misiorowski, Robert Gasser, Chad Patrick, and Tobias Myers all have experience starting, but the team has made clear that they won’t be used that way in the 2025 playoffs. All four made the NLCS roster cut, but the Brewers will deploy them out of the bullpen.
With that strategic context, it isn’t surprising to see them go with Ashby out of the gate, even though Priester or Quintana have both had five days’ rest (that is, four off days) and did not go deep in their last outings. Priester threw only 39 pitches, while Quintana delivered 49. One would imagine that both are available from a rest and recovery standpoint, but going the traditional route just isn’t how this Brewers team operates.
Indeed, manager Pat Murphy loves to mix and match even when that means thinking way outside the box. In Game 5 of the NLDS, he used Trevor Megill, the regular-season closer, as an opener. Opening with Ashby against the Dodgers provides one clear advantage.
That advantage is forcing Los Angeles leadoff hitter Shohei Ohtani into a left-on-left matchup, and probably getting the same with first baseman Freddie Freeman a few batters later. Starting a southpaw also confronts Dodgers manager with a Max Muncy decision. Muncy has stark left-right splits and if Ashby makes it six or batters into the lineup, the Brewers could capitalize. Because of this, the Dodgers may start someone else in Muncy’s place and bring him in later as a pinch-hitter.
The splits aren’t as extreme for Ohtani and Freeman – they barely exist for the latter – but still, it’s an advantage. Quintana, of course, is a southpaw, too, but lefties actually hit him a bit better in the regular season. In a series that will be decided on razor-thin edges, with pitching choices dictated by aggressive matchup hunting, Ashby as an unconventional Game 1 opener makes almost too much Murph-math sense.
