The 2026 Major League Baseball playoffs will begin on Tuesday, but the Milwaukee Brewers will not be taking the field.
Milwaukee earned a first-round bye by landing the No. 1 seed in the National League overall. Because of this, the Brewers don’t have to play a game until the National League Division Series, which begins on Oct. 3. A few extra days of rest could go a long way. Plus, the Brewers don’t have to play in a three-game playoff series, which is a massive positive. Anything can happen in a three-game series. Fortunately, the NLDS is five games.
When the Brewers’ postseason run actually begins, it’s going to be interesting to see who on this young roster steps up. Arguably, there is one guy who stands out among the rest as a potential postseason X-factor: Logan Henderson.
This isn’t to say that he’s going to be the best player on the roster. Jacob Misiorowski was the best pitcher in baseball this year. If he continues to pitch as he did in the regular season, then Milwaukee is going to be fine every time he touches the rubber. He isn’t the X-factor here because at this point, the expectation is that he’s going to be great. Jackson Chourio broke out and arguably is the most important piece in the lineup, but the expectation is that he’s going to dominate.
But Henderson arguably is the biggest X-factor. This doesn’t mean he isn’t great himself, but he hasn’t done it in the playoffs yet. Throughout the regular season, he logged a 2.47 ERA in 18 starts, to go along with a ridiculous 110-to-19 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 98 1/3 innings pitched. Last season, he had a 1.78 ERA in five starts. He hasn’t pitched in a playoff game yet, though. If his production from the regular season simply carries over to the postseason, then the Brewers are going to have a weapon.
With the way Misiorowski has pitched this season, Milwaukee should be able to win pretty much every time he goes out. That was the case with Henderson in the regular season as well. If he can carry over to the playoffs, that’s an advantage. The Brewers will play a five-game series against either the Chicago Cubs or the San Diego Padres. If you give yourself a good chance of going up 2-0 with Misiorowski and Henderson, it’s going to be hard for anyone to beat Milwaukee, especially because you could get multiple starts out of them as well, depending on the length of the series.
That’s why he’s the X-factor. It’s tough to project exactly how someone is going to translate from the regular season to the playoffs. But if Henderson looks like he did in the regular season, then it’s going to be hard for any team to take down Milwaukee, regardless of a lack of power. If you have two different hurlers throwing at a near-untouchable level you give yourself a chance to go on a deep run.
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