Blake Snell will start for the Dodgers in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Brewers on Monday night at American Family Field, manager Dave Roberts told reporters on Sunday afternoon
in Milwaukee.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start Game 2, which lines him up to start Game 6 as well if the series goes that long.
Brewers manager Freddy Peralta told reporters Milwaukee would use an opener in Game 1, with left-hander Jose Quintana and right-hander Quinn Priester likely available to pitch in bulk. The Brewers plan is for Freddy Peralta to pitch in Game 2.
Snell has allowed two runs with 18 strikeouts in 13 innings in his two starts this postseason, in wins over the Reds in the wild card round and over the Phillies in Game 2 of the NLDS. Those are the first two of his 12 career postseason starts in which Snell completed at least six innings.
After the Dodgers’ NLDS win over the Phillies, both Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow aren’t rested enough to start the NLCS opener, leaving only Snell and Shohei Ohtani as potential Game 1 starters against the Brewers. Considering both Ohtani and Yamamoto don’t pitch on fewer than five days rest, Snell was the obvious choice for Game 1, because he’d also be available for Game 5 on Saturday at Dodger Stadium on four days rest.
Asked on Saturday if the Dodgers would need a fifth starter during the NLCS, Dave Roberts said, “I think the four starters, and how we line it up is important, but I think four is all we need.”
Later asked if the Dodgers would need a bullpen game in the NLCS, Roberts on Saturday said, “No one knows how the series is going to play out, but I do think that how we would line the starters up, we would do the best we can to get four starters and not have to take on a bullpen game.”
Since divisional play added a second round to the postseason in 1969, Snell will be the fifth different Dodgers pitcher to start multiple Games 1 in the same postseason:
Clayton Kershaw (3): 2017 NLDS, NLCS, World Series
Walker Buehler (3): 2020 wild card, NLDS, NLCS
Derek Lowe (2): 2008 NLDS, NLCS
Clayton Kershaw (2): 2018 NLCS, World Series
Jack Flaherty (2): 2024 NLCS, World Series
Blake Snell (2): 2025 wild card, NLCS
Kershaw in 2017 (NLDS and World Series) is the only one of this group to date to earn the win in multiple Game 1 starts.
