The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in four games in the National League Championship Series, while the Tampa Bay Rays needed six games to beat the Cleveland Guardians.
The Guardians will have a little bit of rest going into the game, but it will have been seven days off for the Brewers by the time Game 1 starts. There is a fear among experts and fans that the extended break will hurt the Brewers, but recent history is on their side.
Since 2019, three teams have swept the League Championship Series, and all three have gone on to win the World Series. The 2019 Washington Nationals had six days off and beat the Houston Astros. The 2022 Astros had four days off and beat the Philadelphia Phillies. The 2025 Dodgers had six days off and beat the Toronto Blue Jays.
Since the League Championship Series became a seven-game series, 12 teams have swept to go to the Fall Classic. Of those 12 teams, one is the Brewers, seven went on to lose the World Series and four won the World Series.
The extra rest should not be too much of an issue for the Brewers, as they have already played after a break this postseason. They had a bye in the Wild Card Series, and it did not seem to bother them.
The rest may actually benefit the Brewers considering how much they have used their top relievers so far in the postseason. Jacob Misiorowski, Logan Henderson and Robert Gasser have not gone deep into games, and Aaron Ashby, DL Hall, Abner Uribe, Trevor Megill and JoJo Romero have been used a ton.
More MLB: Dodgers' Dalton Rushing Undergoing Surgery That Will Cost Him Significant Time