Oct 14, 2026 1:31 PM
Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy faces a high-stakes chess match against Los Angeles Dodgers southpaw Blake Snell.
When it comes to lineup construction, there's no one who does it quite like Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy.
Murphy doesn't have a $240 million player to hit in the eighth spot, so he has to get creative night in and night out.
Knowing Blake Snell is the Los Angeles Dodgers starter, it'll be a left-handed pitchers dual with the Brewers giving Robert Gasser the Game 3 nod.
Back in Game 1 of the National League Division Series, Murphy had left-handed hitter Christian Yelich in the lineup against southpaw Robbie Ray.
When Game 1 of the National League Championship Series came around, Murphy had Andrew Vaughn take over as designated hitter.
Vaughn, a righty, gave the team a different option against the former two-time Cy Young Award winner.
Remember, Yelich went 1-for-3 against the San Diego Padres in Game 1, and it's worth noting his lone hit came against Ray.
When Vaughn took his place against Skubal, the 28-year-old went 1-for-3 with a walk and a double.
Coincidentally, both Yelich and Vaughn recorded their hits in the second inning.
Knowing Snell is standing across from the Brewers now that this series shifts to the West Coast, it'll be interesting to see what Murphy comes up with for his starting line.
Brewers expected Game 3 lineup
MLB.com's Adam McCalvy speculates Yelich will indeed be in the Game 3 lineup, even though he'd be going left-on-left against Snell.
Murphy loves to change around his lineups, even if it's just moving someone up or down a spot, but McCalvy believes the two-time Manager of the Year will go with the exact same lineup as he did to start the Brewers postseason campaign.
1. Jackson Chourio, LF
2. Brice Turang, 2B
3. William Contreras, C
4. Jake Bauers, 1B
5. Christian Yelich, DH
6. Cooper Pratt, SS
7. Luis Lara, RF
8. Garrett Mitchell, CF
9. Joey Ortiz, 3B
Minor tweaks to be made
David Hamilton is coming off a monstrous performance, but it's always hard keeping Ortiz out of the lineup. Seeing as Hamilton hits left-handed, he'll likely ride the bench in this one.
Lara is the team's rookie switch hitter who will absolutely get the starting nod over Sal Frelick, who exclusively is a left-handed hitter.
In terms of moving things around, there's a world where William Contreras hits cleanup and Bauers moves up to the third spot.
Keeping Yelich at fifth feels like a good move, and then it would be up to Murphy if he wanted to play around with things and flip-flip Lara and Mitchell.
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