Brewers take MLB-best 103 wins into NLDS against Padres

Milwaukee set a franchise record with 103 wins and opens the NLDS against San Diego, with Jon Morosi calling it a deeper, better Brewers team.

The Milwaukee Brewers enter October with the best record in the majors after a franchise-record 103-win regular season, a campaign that secured the top seed in the National League. The reward is a National League Division Series matchup with the San Diego Padres, and with it another chance to convert that dominance into a long playoff run.

Milwaukee has won at a high rate in the regular season for several years, but its playoff results have not always kept pace. The franchise has now produced the finest regular season in its history, and the question hanging over another October is whether this group can finally carry that form through a full postseason run.

In an October 2 segment on MLB Network, insider Jon Morosi made the case that the current roster is better positioned for October than its predecessors. "Different personnel. They have new arrivals," he said, citing young players such as Cooper Pratt and Luis Lara, who were not on the club for earlier playoff runs. "It's a different Brewers team; it's a better Brewers team."

He also credited a wave of young talent with strengthening Milwaukee's case for a World Series run this fall. Garrett Mitchell and third baseman David Hamilton were the examples he gave of the added depth available this month, options that the club's earlier playoff teams did not have.

Morosi turned to the matchup itself and made a case for it going the full five games. "But can we get a five-game series between the Padres and Brewers?" he said. "So many stars in this series."

Right-hander Jacob Misiorowski may do more than anyone to determine how far Milwaukee goes this month. A year of further growth turned him into a National League Cy Young favorite, and he leads the majors in ERA (1.80), WHIP (0.80) and strikeouts (252). Pitching at that level hands the Brewers a frontline weapon as they try to seize early control of the series.

Milwaukee moved a round deeper last postseason, eliminating the Chicago Cubs in the NLDS before the Los Angeles Dodgers swept them in the NLCS. That defeat exposed a gap between the Brewers and the National League's elite, and the Padres now provide the next test of whether Milwaukee has closed it.

The series will also reach back into franchise history. Former Brewers Carlos Gómez and Nyjer Morgan are among four alumni scheduled to throw ceremonial first pitches during the NLDS. Gómez entered the club's Wall of Honor in 2021 and retired as a Brewer that same year.

The San Diego Padres visit the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on Sunday, October 4. First pitch is set for 4:00 PM EDT, and the game airs on FS1.