How the Brewers Made the 2026 World Series

For the first time since 1982, the Brewers will play baseball in the World Series. Over the last 15 years, several different iterations of this club have come close: 2011, 2018, and most recently, 2025. But this year, everything came together.

A homegrown core

As every World Series-bound team generally does (and even the Dodgers in ’24 and ’25 were able to say the same thing), a homegrown core must be the main crux of any successful MLB team.

Player development has been a strong suit for the Brewers over the last decade, which has helped build a sustainable winner. Given that a team like the Brewers operates on a smaller player payroll than other teams in the NL, that is even more important.

The homegrown stars came to play this October. Jackson Chourio may have batted .171 in his first eight postseason games in 2026. However, his impact has been felt so much. He hit a home run in both the NLDS and NLCS, drove in the game-winning run in Game 2, and only struck out five times.

Cooper Pratt notched nine hits in the first two rounds, while Brice Turang and Garrett Mitchell each had six. Mitchell, in particular, was a breakout star this October. He was able to get over the Petco Park wall in Game 4 of the NLDS to rob Manny Machado of a game-tying home run. And in the NLCS, he went deep twice off left-handed pitchers.

Then, there are the big boy pitchers. Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson were the top two starters in both series for Milwaukee. And their best pitcher over the playoffs to this point was starter-turned-reliever Aaron Ashby.

Ashby led all relievers in wins (13) this season, and had a K/9 of 11.7, inside the top 20 relievers. His power fastball/curveball combo was a nightmare for both lefties and righties. During the NLDS and NLCS, Ashby struck out 11 over 12.1 IP, and didn’t allow a run.

Savvy drafting

This roster has slowly come together over the last decade.

Back in 2018, the Brewers grabbed Brice Turang, a standout high school kid from California and a second-gen ballplayer, in the first round. Three rounds later, another bloodline ballplayer, Aaron Ashby, was taken.

During the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Milwaukee took Garrett Mitchell with the top pick. Mitchell was a standout at UCLA from a tools standpoint. It took a while for it to come together in full at the MLB level. But now that he’s healthy, he’s thrived.

One year later, Boston College speedster Sal Frelick went in the first round. The Brewers also picked Logan Henderson from McClellan CC three rounds later.

And in 2022, the Brewers were able to grab Jacob Misiorowski and sign him away from joining LSU. Fast forward four years later, he’s now the staff ace.

More often than not, good drafts will lead to good results.

Consequential trades

More than half of the Brewers’ current playoff roster was not drafted or signed as an amateur free agent by Milwaukee. And while the club wasn’t able to make this happen when Christian Yelich, who’s been on the team since 2018, was in his prime years, moves made in the years following his arrival helped make this a reality.

Realistically, the early seeds were planted in 2022. Josh Hader, then the closer for the Brewers, was traded to San Diego for a package that included Robert Gasser and Esteury Ruiz. Four months after that trade, Ruiz was flipped to Oakland as part of the three-way trade that sent William Contreras to Milwaukee.

Nearly two years later, Milwaukee sent then-ace Corbin Burnes to Baltimore for Joey Ortiz and DL Hall, both on the NLCS roster. After the 2024 season, Devin Williams was traded to the Yankees, bringing in Caleb Durbin. And after one season in Milwaukee, the Brewers flipped Durbin as part of a massive trade that added NLCS hero David Hamilton (who was originally drafted by the Brewers), Kyle Harrison, and Game 4 starter Shane Drohan.

Yes, the Brewers did more than that, as the club added JoJo Romero, Dustin May, and Antonio Senzatela at the deadline. But as noted above, it was more than just good deadline work. A tree of trades helps build the foundation for a pennant-winning club.

The Brewer brand of baseball

Yes, the Brewers did things differently in the playoffs.

Milwaukee was not a home run-hitting team in the regular season. But the club became one in October, with 10 home runs to lead all teams. Several of those shots, including Jake Bauers‘ shot off Blake Snell, loomed very large.

Defense, another strong suit, was an issue, too. Logan Henderson’s two errors in Game 2 of the NLCS nearly cost the club the game. Cooper Pratt, a normally stellar defender, also had some issues here and there.

Still, the speed and pitching, both strong suits all year long, helped Milwaukee get to this point.