How one pitch type could decide Brewers' World Series fate vs. Rays originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Milwaukee Brewers are viewed as the World Series favorites, as they have home field advantage over the Tampa Bay Rays, and also are coming off sweeping the defending champions.
However, winning the World Series is going to be difficult, as the Rays are a very good team deserving of this spot in the series. A lot of different factors will be at play during this series, but there's one specific pitch type that could play a huge role.
ESPN's Jeff Passan highlighted how the changeup could play an instrumental role in the Brewers vs. Rays World Series. With the Rays' pitchers' reliance on the pitch, and the Brewers' success against changeups, if that trend continues, they could be in great shape.
How a changeup can dramatically impact Brewers vs. Rays World Series
"The Rays are changeup specialists, and the Brewers will be at their best if they can hit them better than Tampa Bay's other opponents," Passan writes. "One thing that bodes well for Milwaukee: It had the lowest chase rate on out-of-zone changeups in the big leagues."
This Rays' pitching staff utilizes changeups often, and Passan revealed that only 41% of those changeups actually were in the strike zone.
With this Rays team utilizing the pitch often, it's going to be important for the Brewers to lay off the out-of-zone changeup.
Jackson Chourio, William Contreras, and the rest of the Brewers' offense will have to stay disciplined and not let the big moments get to them in this World Series matchup.
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If they stay patient and lay off those changeups for balls, then they could take care of one of the Rays' biggest strengths that's helped them make it this far in the first place.
This might sound like a simple hurdle for the Brewers to clear, but considering teams like the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians couldn't pull it off, this one pitch could change the course of this 2026 World Series.
There is a lot more that will go into this World Series than how the Brewers react to the Rays' changeup use. But, as Passan outlined, this one pitch will play a real role in this series, more so than one pitch might normally impact things in a series.
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