PHOENIX — After 162 games in 185 days, the Arizona Diamondbacks wrapped up their regular season Sunday. They finished with a record of 84-78, good for the National League's sixth-overall seed in the MLB Playoffs. That means the D-backs will face the #3 seed, the Milwaukee Brewers in the best-of-three Wild Card round.
Before we break down the Brewers, here is how the Wild Card round works.
Six teams from both the American League (AL) and National League (NL) qualify for the playoffs. In each league, this is made up of the three division champions followed by the next three teams with the best record, regardless of division.
The division champions with the best two records in the AL and NL each earn a bye from the Wild Card round to the Division Series. This year that is the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL and the Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros in the AL.
In the Wild Card round, there will be two best-of-three series in each league. The #3 seed will play the #6 seed, and the #4 seed will play the #5 seed.
In the NL, the #3 Milwaukee Brewers will play the #6 Arizona Diamondbacks and the #4 Philadelphia Phillies will play the #5 Miami Marlins. In the AL, the #3 Minnesota Twins will play the #6 Toronto Blue Jays and the #4 Tampa Bay Rays will play the #5 Texas Rangers.
The Wild Card round will start on Tuesday. Game two will be played on Wednesday, and if necessary, Game three will be played on Thursday.
All three games will be played at the home ballpark of the higher seed, meaning the D-backs will play all of their Wild Card round games at American Family Field in Milwaukee.
The first pitch for each game is scheduled for 4:08 p.m. MST and will be on ESPN2.
Now, here is what you need to know about the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Brewers won the NL Central division with a record of 92-70, finishing nine games ahead of the second-place Chicago Cubs.
The Brewers manager, Craig Counsell, is a very familiar face to Arizona baseball fans. Counsell played for the D-backs from 2000-06 and was a part of the 2001 World Series championship team. Counsell finished his playing career with Milwaukee in 2011 and has been Milwaukee's manager since 2015.
The Brewers have made the postseason four times under Counsell. In 2018, Milwaukee swept Colorado in the NLDS before falling to the Dodgers in Game Seven of the NL Championship Series. In 2019, Milwaukee lost the NL Wild Card game to the Washington Nationals. In 2020, Milwaukee was swept out of the NL Wild Card series by the Dodgers. And in 2021, the Brewers lost to the Atlanta Braves in four games in the NLDS.
PITCHING
The Brewers strength this season has been their pitching.
Milwaukee's starters in the Wild Card round are likely to be Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, and Brandon Woodruff.
Burnes went 10-8 in 32 starts this year. He threw 193.2 innings and had a 3.39 ERA.
Peralta was 12-10 in 30 starts this season. He threw 165.2 innings and had a 3.86 ERA.
Woodruff went 5-1 in 11 starts this season. He threw 67 innings and had a 2.28 ERA. Woodruff missed a large portion of this season due to a shoulder injury.
The Brewers bullpen had an ERA of 3.71 this season, which was the best in the majors.
Closer Devin Williams had 36 saves and an ERA of 1.53 this season.
HITTING
The Brewers offense has been middle of the pack this season. Their team batting average (.240) was 23rd in the majors, their on-base percentage (.319) was 17th, and their slugging percentage (.385) was 25th. The Brewers hit the 24th-most home runs in the majors (164), had the 18th most runs batted in (692).
Shortstop Willy Adames led Milwaukee in home runs with 24 and RBI with 80.
FIELDING
Around the diamond, the starting lineup for the Brewers has been:
- C Williams Contreras
- 1B Carlos Santana or Rowdy Tellez
- 2B Brice Turang
- SS Willy Adames
- 3B Josh Donaldson
- LF Christian Yelich
- CF Sal Frelick
- RF Tyrone Taylor
Milwaukee has had the 11th-best defense in the majors with a fielding percentage of .987. The Diamondbacks tied with Texas for the best defense in the majors with a fielding percentage of .990.
The Brewers committed 77 errors, while the D-backs committed just 55.