For the first time since 1980, we have a World Series matchup of two teams without a title. While plenty of teams have claimed their first title since that time (the 2023 Rangers were the most recent), this is the first time in 46 years that we\u2019re heading into a World Series where we are guaranteed to see a franchise claim its first title.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take a quick look at how both teams got here, starting with the American League\u2019s Tampa Bay Rays.<\/p>\n
While the Rays are in their 29th season, they\u2019ve already claimed three AL pennants, though they haven\u2019t yet captured their first championship. Their previous appearances in the World Series came in 2008, when they beat the Red Sox in seven games in the ALCS before losing to the Phillies in five games, and in 2020, when they took down the Astros in another seven-game ALCS before losing in a neutral World Series in Texas, as the Dodgers won 4-2.<\/p>\n
After spending the entire 2025 season at George M. Steinbrenner Field \u2014 the Yankees\u2019 spring training home \u2014 due to Hurricane Milton\u2019s damage to Tropicana Field, they returned home this year and turned in the best record in the American League, going 98-64. They\u2019re back in the World Series after sweeping the Yankees in the ALDS and claiming the ALCS in six games over the Guardians.<\/p>\n
Led by manager Kevin Cash, who won back-to-back AL Manager of the Year Awards in 2020 and 2021, the Rays outperformed preseason expectations behind one of the strongest pitching staffs in baseball and an above-average offense.<\/p>\n
There isn\u2019t much homegrown talent in Tampa, but they\u2019ve done an incredible job of scouting under-the-radar players from across the league. The ALCS roster was constructed as follows:<\/p>\n
MLB Draft (3): LHP Ian Seymour, OF Chandler Simpson, SS Taylor WallsInternational Signing (1): 1B Jonathan ArandaTrade (16): RHP Bryan Baker (2025 trade deadline), 3B Junior Caminero (2021-22 offseason), OF Jonny DeLuca (2023-24 offseason), DH Yandy D\u00edaz (2018-19 offseason), C Nick Fortes (2025 trade deadline), C Liam Hicks (2026 trade deadline), RHP Brody Hopkins (2024 trade deadline), RHP Griffin Jax (2025 trade deadline), OF Victor Mesa Jr. (2025-26 offseason), INF Richie Palacios (2023-24 offseason), RHP Freddy Peralta (2026 trade deadline), RHP Drew Rasmussen (2021 midseason), RHP Cole Sulser (2024 trade deadline), OF Ryan Vilade (2025-26 offseason), RHP Tyler Wells (2026 trade deadline), 2B Ben Williamson (2025-26 offseason)Free agency (5): LHP Cam Booser, RHP Nick Martinez, INF Jorge Mateo, LHP Steven Matz, OF Cedric MullinsRule 5 Draft (1): RHP Kevin Kelly<\/p>\n
As I said, just look at how good some of those trade acquisitions look in retrospect. Bryan Baker is one of the best closers in baseball, and they got him for the No. 37 draft pick in last year\u2019s draft. Junior Caminero is an MVP candidate who they picked up from the Guardians for Tobias Myers. Yandy D\u00edaz was also acquired from the Guardians in a three-team deal, where Tampa Bay departed with Jake Bauers and cash. More recent deadline acquisitions in Griffin Jax, Freddy Peralta, and Liam Hicks cost them Taj Bradley and six prospects (none of them in MLB\u2019s top 100).<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what most in the industry would probably define as \u201cfleecing.\u201d<\/p>\n
How has that roster fared?<\/p>\n
On the mound, they\u2019re led by starters Drew Rasmussen and Peralta \u2014 both former Brewers \u2014 as well as Nick Martinez, a familiar foe for Milwaukee from his time with the Reds. The aforementioned Baker led the majors with 41 saves and hasn\u2019t blown a save since May 13, spanning 30 regular season and five postseason saves. In fact, all four of those arms have been great this postseason:<\/p>\n
Drew Rasmussen: 3 GS, 21 IP, 2-0, 1.29 ERA, 23 KFreddy Peralta: 4 G, 3 GS, 16 2\/3 IP, 2-0, 1.08 ERA, 12 K (ALCS MVP)Nick Martinez: 2 GS, 9 IP, 1-0, 3.00 ERA, 6 KBryan Baker: 7 G, 7 IP, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 6 K<\/p>\n
The rest of the bullpen \u2014 which includes Kevin Kelly, Tyler Wells, Cam Booser, Brody Hopkins, Steven Matz, Cole Sulser, and Jax and Ian Seymour in starter-reliever roles \u2014 has been good, not great, this postseason, with a 3.60 bullpen ERA and 32 strikeouts across 30 innings.<\/p>\n
Offensively, they\u2019re led by Caminero, D\u00edaz, Hicks, Jonathan Aranda, and speedster Chandler Simpson, who gives Billy Hamilton vibes. D\u00edaz has been the best hitter in the postseason, slashing .308\/.341\/.564 with 12 hits, including a pair of homers and four doubles. Caminero and Aranda have also homered, while Simpson has led a steal-happy squad (perfect 11-for-11 this postseason) with three steals. Other regulars include Victor Mesa Jr., Jonny DeLuca, Taylor Walls, and Richie Palacios, with Ben Williamson, Ryan Vilade, Cedric Mullins, and Nick Fortes rounding out the bench.<\/p>\n
The Brewers had another great season under Matt Arnold & Pat Murphy, winning their fourth consecutive NL Central title and becoming the first team in the division to do so. They also won 103 games, breaking their previous franchise record of 97 wins set in 2025.<\/p>\n
To get here, they had to go through two of the hottest teams in baseball down the stretch in the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Padres swept the Cubs in the NL Wild Card Series and put up quite the fight against Milwaukee, as the Brewers eked out three wins in a 3-1 series victory. The Dodgers, who took three of four from the Braves in the NLDS, were the Goliath to Milwaukee\u2019s David after sweeping the Crew in the 2025 NLCS. This time, the Brewers flipped the script, sweeping the Dodgers en route to their first World Series since 1982 and marking the first time they\u2019ve made it as a National League team.<\/p>\n
Per MLB.com, the Brewers got more out of the MLB Draft than every other playoff team with the exception of Cleveland. That includes first-round picks Brice Turang (2018), Garrett Mitchell (2020), and Sal Frelick (2021), as well as junior college finds in Jacob Misiorowski (2022), Logan Henderson (2021), and Aaron Ashby (2017). They also picked up starting shortstop Cooper Pratt in the sixth round back in 2023, pulling him away from a college commitment.<\/p>\n
They have three international signees \u2014 Jackson Chourio (2021) and Luis Lara (2022) out of Venezuela, and Abner Uribe (2018) out of the Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n
Shockingly, the only free agent on this team is catcher Gary S\u00e1nchez, who signed a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2027 back in February.<\/p>\n
The other 15 projected players on the team came via trade. This group includes Jake Bauers, William Contreras, Joey Ortiz, DL Hall, David Hamilton, Trevor Megill, Chad Patrick, Robert Gasser, Shane Drohan, Kyle Harrison, Dustin May, JoJo Romero, Antonio Senzatela, Andrew Vaughn, and Christian Yelich.<\/p>\n
I should note that if Brandon Woodruff somehow miraculously makes the roster, he would add one more to the draft group, as he was taken in the 11th round out of Mississippi State back in 2014. He\u2019d likely take the spot of either Harrison or Patrick, neither of whom has pitched this postseason.<\/p>\n
The offense is anchored by Turang, Contreras, and Chourio, but the supporting pieces are solid too \u2014 Murphy has seemingly found the right mix this postseason, with Pratt, Bauers, and Mitchell joining those three as everyday players while Hamilton and Ortiz split duties at third base, Lara and Frelick split duties in right, and Vaughn and Yelich split duties at designated hitter.<\/p>\n
On the mound, the Misiorowski-Henderson-Gasser combo has worked well atop the rotation, with May and Drohan next in line, though neither of them has been given all that long of a leash here in the playoffs. For the bullpen, the back end combination of Megill, Uribe, and Ashby has been fantastic; Hall has also been solid, and deadline acquisitions Romero and Senzatela have been better in the postseason than they were down the stretch.<\/p>\n
Note: Pitching matchups will be filled in as they\u2019re announced<\/p>\n
Game 1 (Milwaukee): Friday, October 23 @ 7:00 p.m.: RHP Jacob Misiorowski (2 GS, 0-0, 3.24 ERA, 1.90 FIP) vs. TBD<\/p>\n
Misiorowski is slated to get the ball in Friday\u2019s series opener, and while he hasn\u2019t been quite as sharp as he was in the regular season, he\u2019s still been a solid presence atop the rotation. He\u2019s made two starts thus far, totaling just 8 1\/3 innings as he\u2019s allowed three runs on nine hits and four walks, striking out 11. The likely NL Cy Young winner after a league-leading 1.80 ERA, 2.17 FIP, and 252 strikeouts, Miz went six innings in a no-decision against the Rays back in April, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out seven. You can certainly expect him to come out the gates with the high heat on Friday night.<\/p>\n
Game 2 (Milwaukee): Saturday, October 24 @ 7:00 p.m.: TBD vs. TBD<\/p>\n
Game 3 (Tampa Bay): Monday, October 26 @ 7:00 p.m.: TBD vs. TBD<\/p>\n
Game 4 (Tampa Bay): Tuesday, October 27 @ 7:00 p.m.: TBD vs. TBD<\/p>\n
Game 5 (if necessary) (Tampa Bay): Wednesday, October 28 @ 7:00 p.m.: TBD vs. TBD<\/p>\n
Game 6 (if necessary) (Milwaukee): Friday, October 30 @ 7:00 p.m.: TBD vs. TBD<\/p>\n
Game 7 (if necessary) (Milwaukee): Saturday, October 31 @ 7:00 p.m.: TBD vs. TBD<\/p>\n
Friday, October 23: Nationally televised on FOX & FOX One; listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network (620 WTMJ in Milwaukee)<\/p>\n
Saturday, October 24: Nationally televised on FOX & FOX One; listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network (620 WTMJ in Milwaukee)<\/p>\n
Monday, October 26: Nationally televised on FOX & FOX One; listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network (620 WTMJ in Milwaukee)<\/p>\n
Tuesday, October 27: Nationally televised on FOX & FOX One; listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network (620 WTMJ in Milwaukee)<\/p>\n
Wednesday, October 28: Nationally televised on FOX & FOX One; listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network (620 WTMJ in Milwaukee)<\/p>\n
Friday, October 30: Nationally televised on FOX & FOX One; listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network (620 WTMJ in Milwaukee)<\/p>\n
Saturday, October 31: Nationally televised on FOX & FOX One; listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network (620 WTMJ in Milwaukee)<\/p>\n
This is probably the most excited, but also the most anxious I\u2019ve ever been as a Brewers fan. These are obviously two fantastic teams, and they match up pretty evenly on paper. It certainly won\u2019t be a cakewalk for either side. Give me the Brewers to claim their first title in six games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the first time since 1980, we have a World Series matchup of two teams without a title.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[170348,96686,135,137,136],"class_list":["post-434778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-milwaukee-brewers-analysis","tag-milwaukee-brewers-game-information","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}