Blake Snell tries to keep media in check with Brewers comments before Dodgers' Game 1

The one team standing between the Los Angeles Dodgers and a trip to the World Series is a team that they were unable to defeat during the regular season.

The Milwaukee Brewers swept the Dodgers in 2025, going a perfect 6-0 in a span of nine games during the month of July. They went on to finish the year with the best record in baseball (97-65). And yet, the defending World Series champions remain the odds-on favorites to capture the title for a second consecutive year as the two teams meet again in the NLCS.

Blake Snell, who was on the injured list when the two teams met during the regular season, will get the ball for the Dodgers in Game 1. His average annual salary ($36.4 million) is more than the Brewers' entire NLDS pitching staff's salaries combined. Nevertheless, he wants to set the narrative straight about the Dodgers' opponents, and he doesn't want the media running away with the underdog narrative that could generate even more support for LA's opponent.

"I'm not falling for the 'Average Joes,'" Snell told reporters (including Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). "They're not. They got the best record in baseball. They're a really good team."

Blake Snell, Dodgers not underestimating Brewers ahead of NLCS matchup

Indeed, the Brewers should be taken seriously; you don't get to be one of the last two teams standing in the National League by pure happenstance. That being said, the Dodgers have reason to believe that their postseason fate against Milwaukee will be different than it was in the regular season.

In addition to Snell, Max Muncy, Kiké Hernández and Roki Sasaki were all on the injured list the last time the Dodgers and Brewers met in the regular season. The latter two have really kicked it into high gear since their respective returns and unlocked a new level of performance in October – Hernández becoming the most clutch hitter in the Dodgers' lineup and Sasaki emerging as their top leverage arm in the bullpen.

The Dodgers finally have a healthy starting rotation consisting of elite arms like Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani. Mookie Betts has also broken out of the slump that plagued him for the majority of the regular season.

Everything appears to be falling into place for Los Angeles at the right time. But now, they face the unenviable task of getting four wins against a team they couldn't even beat once during the regular season. We'll soon learn whether they are up for the challenge and if Snell's commentary turns out to be true.