Subscribe
Follow Us
Despite all the turmoil of the offseason, the Milwaukee Brewers will end the 2024 regular season the same way they finished the 2023 campaign: as National League Central champs.
Thanks to a Cubs loss to the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday, Milwaukee clinched the division for the fourth time in seven seasons. A walk-off win over the Philadelphia Phillies later in the day was the cherry on top — provoking unbridled celebrations in the home locker room after the game.
The Brewers were the first MLB team to clinch a playoff berth this year, and with less than two weeks left in the regular season, the focus now turns to postseason seeding and matchups.
A four-game split with the Phillies means that Milwaukee still slots in as the third seed in the National League, three games behind Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Dodgers — who are tied for the top spot.
Earning a top-two seed is all-important for the Brewers as it would give them a first-round bye, allowing them to skip from the Wild Card round to the Divisional round. If Milwaukee cannot earn a top-two seed, this is the nightmare seeding and matchup for the Brewers in the 2024 MLB Playoffs.
Earn the No. 3 seed, face the San Diego Padres
As the NL Central champs, the Brewers can earn no worse than the No. 3 seed in the playoffs this year. As the 3 seed, they would face the worst of the three Wild Card teams in the opening round. The Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Mets are tied for the final Wild Card spot, with the San Diego Padres ahead of them by two games.
The Brewers are 2-5 against the Padres this season, their worst winning percentage versus any opponent in 2024. Milwaukee's most recent series against San Diego came in late June when the Padres took three of four games against the Brewers at Petco Park. The Padres are a balanced team, ranking in the Top 10 in MLB in runs scored and allowed.
Article Continues Below
But the Padres' key advantage over the Brewers is their starting pitching depth and talent. San Diego ace Dylan Cease has been as dependable as they come in his first season in California. The former Chicago White Sox pitcher has a 3.42 ERA across 184.1 innings, and his 220 strikeouts are third in MLB.
Behind Cease is Michael King. The former New York Yankee is in his first full season as a starter and has possibly been the club's best pitcher. King has a 3.02 ERA, striking out better than 10 batters per nine innings. The rest of the Padres' starting rotation is just as good.
Joe Musgrove was an All-Star in 2022 before dealing with injuries the last two years, while former Cy Young candidate Yu Darvish has a 3.21 ERA in 70 innings after missing more than three months. Lefty Martin Perez — a trade-deadline acquisition from the Pittsburgh Pirates — rounds out a deep armory for San Deigo. Perez has a 2.72 ERA in eight starts with the Padres.
The San Diego lineup has not been as prolific as in recent years, but it still boasts Manny Machado (29 HR, 104 RBI, .279 BA), breakout star Jurickson Profar (who leads the NL with a .385 OBP), and Rookie of the Year candidate Jackson Merrill (24 HR, 86 RBIs, .827 OPS).
The club also boasts Fernando Tatis and Xander Bogaerts. The duo has a combined seven Silver Sluggers and six All-Star Game appearances, and both are finally healthy after significant stretches on the IL. San Diego is 9-5 since Tatis returned in early September and is a far better team when he is on the diamond.
The San Diego Padres are a balanced team with postseason experience that has been in great form recently, making them a difficult matchup for the Brewers in the 2024 MLB Playoffs.
