MLB playoffs 2026: Previewing Dodgers-Brewers NLCS - ESPN

The 2026 National League Championship Series is set — and we've got a meeting of the NL's top two teams.

Hours after the Los Angeles Dodgers advanced with a win over the Atlanta Braves, the Milwaukee Brewers set up a rematch of last year's NLCS by knocking out the San Diego Padres.

What has stood out about both teams so far? What does each need to do to punch a ticket to the Fall Classic? And who are the X factors on each roster? Our ESPN MLB experts break it all down.

Note: Matchup odds come from Bradford Doolittle's formula using power ratings as the basis for 10,000 simulations to determine the most likely outcomes. Team temperatures are based on Bill James' formula for determining how «hot» or «cold» a team is at any given point; the average is 72 degrees.

This rematch is a year in the making — a year in which the Dodgers' core of stars somewhat slowed down and the Brewers' young foundation coalesced into baseball's best team. During the Dodgers' four-game sweep in the 2025 NLCS, the Brewers scored four total runs. There's not much more you need to know about Milwaukee's challenge in the next round.

Can an improved version of the same style of offense that faltered against the Dodgers a year ago finally get the Brewers over the top? Runs will be hard to come by for both teams — and for every team left in the playoffs. But Milwaukee needs to get to four runs at least four times. If they can do that, they can send the Dodgers packing.

No. 1-seeded Brewers' concern level: This is the third time in the past nine seasons that the Brewers have advanced to the NLCS, still seeking their first World Series appearance since 1982. Both previous times, the Dodgers slammed the door on Milwaukee, taking seven games to do so in