Brewers Off Day Notes: Contreras, NLDS schedule, pitching probables

With the Wild Card round underway, the Brewers received some news on when their Division Series will take place.

Milwaukee’s game on Saturday, October 4, will start at 1:08 p.m. CT if the New York Yankees advance. If that’s the case, the game will be broadcast on TBS and HBO Max.

If the Boston Red Sox advance, Milwaukee’s start time will bump to the 8:08 p.m. CT time slot. That night game would be broadcast on TBS, truTV, and HBO Max.

All NLDS series will take place on TNT Sports platforms, while the ALDS games will be broadcast on FOX and FS1.

To view the entire schedule breakdown, you can view MLB.com’s article here.

Manager Pat Murphy addressed William Contreras’ situation yesterday, saying that Contreras is going to play “no matter what” in the NLDS. Murphy said, courtesy of Adam McCalvy, “You’re not going to be able to keep William out. No matter what the analysis is on that injury, he’s going to play.”

Contreras’ injury issues date back to early in the season when it was announced he had an injury that would eventually require offseason surgery in his glove hand. The news only got worse on September 20, when he was hit by a bat on his glove hand. He returned quickly to play three more games at the end of the season, though he went 0-for-12 in that span. It’s hard to tell if that’s a meaningful sample size to draw any conclusions. The first-round bye will undoubtedly be helpful in making sure he’s ready to go for the team’s first playoff game.

On the whole, Contreras’ season was less impressive than last year, but he was still an important contributor in the lineup. While his OPS dipped from .831 to .754, he was still an above-average performer. He provided 17 home runs for the club while recording a career-low 18.2% strikeout rate.

Milwaukee’s probable starters for games 1 and 2

In the aforementioned McCalvy article, Murphy provided information on the team’s scheduled starters. As expected, Freddy Peralta is slated to make the start for Game 1 with Quinn Priester following in Game 2.

Priester’s unexpected performance this year played a key role in the team securing an MLB-best record. This was Priester’s third season in the majors, but his first with a full workload. Over 157 1/3 innings, he pitched to a 3.32 ERA with a 13-3 record.

Growing up a Cubs fan, Priester addressed the possibility of facing his childhood team:

“I’ve taken the thought process that whoever emerges, that’s who we’re going to play and that’s who we have to take care of business [against]. There’s certainly cool nostalgic moments and it would be awesome to face the Cubs, but Petco [Park] is an awesome environment, too. Ultimately, whoever it is, we believe in our team and what we can do.”