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How One Player's Downfall Has Hurt the Brewers
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- How One Player's Downfall Has Hurt the Brewers
(© David Reginek-Imagn Images)
On Sunday, the Milwaukee Brewers will host the Los Angeles Dodgers to kick off a National League Championship Series rematch .
The Brewers proved to be the better team in the regular season, but that was also the case in 2025 before they were swept by the Dodgers in the NLCS. Now, they have to show that they can overcome their kryptonite on one of baseball's biggest stages.
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It will not be easy, but Milwaukee has the firepower to do it. However, the decline of one player could end up hurting the team.
Brewers could use the old Kyle Harrison
Milwaukee is going into this series with baseball's best pitcher in Jacob Misiorowski. The club also has a very good second option in Logan Henderson .
Still, this team could have had a three-headed monster in the starting rotation, but the rapid decline of left-hander Kyle Harrison has rendered that prospect null and void.
Harrison opened the season in dominant fashion. In April, he made four starts and posted a 2-1 record with a 2.41 ERA over 18.2 innings of work.
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In May, he was even better, logging a 4-0 record with a 0.96 ERA across five starts and 28 innings pitched. Even when he came back down to earth in June and posted a 4.62 ERA across five starts and 25.1 innings, he still went 2-0 and looked as if he could be another ace behind Misiorowski.
But in July, everything changed.
The downfall
On July 11, Harrison was placed on the 15-day Injured List — a placement that was retroactive to July 9 — for left forearm tightness. He did not return to the mound until Aug. 5, and despite three quality starts in August, Harrison's downfall was beginning.
There were previews of Harrison's struggles before he went on the IL. He went 0-1 over two starts in July with an 8.10 ERA in just 6.2 innings of work, and in August he went 2-2 over five starts with a 5.01 ERA in 23.1 innings.
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September turned out to be the biggest disaster for Harrison. He appeared in six games but only made two starts as the Brewers tried to change his role in order to help him recapture some of his production. Instead, he went 1-1 with a 13.50 ERA in 8.2 innings pitched.
He allowed more earned runs (13) than batters he struck out (11), and he also totaled seven walks. Because of his struggles, Harrison has yet to pitch in the postseason, and it is hard to say whether he can regain the Brewers' trust.
This is bad news for Milwaukee because, even though the Dodgers' hitters have struggled in the playoffs, there is a clear talent gap between the duo of Misiorowski and Henderson and the rest of the starting rotation.
The old version of Harrison would have done more than just fill a gap; he could have been a dominant force on the mound and a real difference-maker. Now, he is unplayable.
