MLB Series of the Week: Milwaukee Brewers vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

From Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, two of the National League’s three teams with at least 50 wins will meet for the first time in 2024 from July 5 to 7.

Both teams have dealt with injury issues in the pitching department, but that hasn’t stopped them from standing at the top of their respective divisions.

Milwaukee Brewers (50-34, first in the NL Central)

The Brewers are coming off a week in which they swept the Texas Rangers and won two of three against the Chicago Cubs in a six-game homestand.

Over their last eight games, the Brewers hit five grand slams, and second baseman Brice Turang is responsible for two of them.

Turang, in his second major league season, is second in the majors with 28 stolen bases and is second among all second basemen with 3.8 WAR.

In June, the Brewers’ two other headliners on offense, outfielder Christian Yelich and catcher William Contreras, were on different ends of the spectrum.

While Yelich batted .317 with a .787 OPS in June, Contreras only hit .218 with a paltry .535 OPS.

A player who has been hot for the Brewers is rookie outfielder Jackson Chourio, who batted .364 with a 1.073 OPS in 22 at-bats over the last week.

Chourio may have to cede some playing time to another outfielder, Garrett Mitchell, who only played 19 games in 2023 and was activated from the injured list on Monday to make his 2024 debut.

As for pitching, Dallas Keuchel, the 2015 American League Cy Young Award winner, became the 14th different Brewers pitcher to start a game in 2024 on Wednesday.

Among the Brewers pitchers on the 60-day injured list are starters Joe Ross, Robert Gasser, DL Hall and Wade Miley and two-time All-Star Devin Williams, the team’s closer.

The Brewers will play four games against the Colorado Rockies in Denver before heading further west.

Los Angeles Dodgers (52-33, first in the NL West)

The Dodgers went on the road and swept the Chicago White Sox and lost two of three against the San Francisco Giants in the previous week.

Designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, the leading National League MVP award candidate, has been on a tear, batting .375 with nine home runs and a 1.508 OPS over his last 13 games.

Ohtani leads the league with a .316 batting average, 26 home runs, 1.034 OPS and 4.8 WAR.

First baseman Freddie Freeman, catcher Will Smith and outfielder Teoscar Hernández are a few of the other key Dodgers position players, but two others are absent.

Middle infielder Mookie Betts, the 2018 American League MVP, who leads the Dodgers with a .405 on-base percentage and is third in the National League with 4.1 WAR, is in the middle of a stint on the injured list with a broken left hand.

Two-time All-Star third baseman Max Muncy has not played since May 15 as he nurses an oblique injury.

The production from Betts’ and Muncy’s replacements has been underwhelming, as Enrique Hernandez, Chris Taylor, Gavin Lux and Cavan Biggio have netted -0.1 WAR.

The Dodgers are also facing a handful of injuries to their pitching staff, as starters Yoshinobu Yamamoto (strained rotator cuff) and Walker Buehler (hip inflammation) joined Clayton Kershaw, a three-time National League Cy Young Award winner, on the injured list in June.

The Dodgers will host a division foe in the Arizona Diamondbacks for three games before the Brewers come to town.

Projected Starters (per ESPN)

Game 1 (July 5, 10:10 p.m. EST): RHP Freddy Peralta (6-4, 3.83 ERA) vs. RHP Tyler Glasnow (8-5, 3.23 ERA)

Game 2 (July 6, 7:15 p.m., FOX): RHP Bryse Wilson (5-3, 3.89) vs. LHP James Paxton (7-2, 4.28)

Game 3 (July 7, 4:10 p.m.): LHP Dallas Keuchel (0-0, 11.25) vs. RHP Bobby Miller (1-1, 6.75)

All stats and records are as of before the Brewers’ game on July 1, 2024.

Owen Klein is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ojk5092@psu.edu.