Updated MLB Playoff Bracket 2026, Padres vs. Brewers NLDS Odds, Preview
The San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers will meet in one of the two NLDS matchups.
San Diego confirmed its spot in the NLDS with a sweep of the Chicago Cubs in the wild-card round on Wednesday.
Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Mason Miller all played key roles in getting the Padres to the NLDS.
San Diego will rely on those players again as it tries to replicate the success it had against Milwaukee in the regular season. The Padres won the regular-season series 4-2.
Milwaukee will try to cash in on its home-field advantage behind an offense that was one of the best in the majors in the regular season.
The Brewers may not hit as many home runs as the Padres, but they put the ball in play as good as any team left in the postseason.
Series Odds
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To Win Series
Milwaukee (-180; bet $180 to win $100)
San Diego (+150; bet $100 to win $150)
Can The Milwaukee Offense Be As Potent As It Was In Regular Season?
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The Brewers led the majors with 1,422 hits and were second in runs with 832.
The NL Central champion also tied with the Tampa Bay Rays for the best team batting average at .258.
Milwaukee did all of that while hitting the second-fewest home runs in the majors.
The Brewers are excellent at putting the ball in play and maximizing the results from that contact.
Pat Murphy's team needs that to continue into the postseason to have a shot at winning the NL pennant and the World Series crown.
Recent postseason history hasn't been on the Brewers' side, though, as they didn't win a game in the 2025 NLCS and lost in the wild-card round in 2020, 2023 and 2024. They also lost in the NLDS in 2021.
Milwaukee has a terrific foundation to be a great regular-season team, but it needs to be more consistent in the playoffs.
The path to the NLCS and beyond involves having a reliable offense that puts the Padres pitching staff under pressure early and taxes its handful of strong bullpen arms over the course of five games.
How Will Padres' Stars Perform?
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Sometimes postseason success can be determined by how well a team's stars play.
Fernando Tatis Jr. announced himself to the 2026 postseason with a leadoff home run in Game 1 of the wild-card round. Manny Machado promptly followed with a first-inning home run of his own.
Tatis and Machado are the ultimate tone-setters atop the Padres lineup. They must get on base early against the Milwaukee pitchers to put the top seed under pressure.
The Padres also have a star at the back end of their bullpen in Mason Miller.
San Diego will try to follow a simple pitching strategy against Milwaukee. It needs its starters to go five or six innings before its top bullpen arms take over.
Miller is the star at the end of the bullpen line. Adrian Morejon, Jason Adam and Bradgley Rodriguez can produce shutdown innings between the starters and Miller.
The Padres rode their stars to victory in Game 1 of the wild-card round and then had their pitching finish off the Chicago Cubs in Game 2.
Without the stars, the Padres likely won't be able to finish off the Brewers.
Just like the Brewers, the Padres are trying to erase some bad recent playoff history. They lost in the NLDS in 2020 and 2024, fell in the wild-card round in 2025 and fell short in the NLCS in 2022.
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