Explaining Brewers' Decision to Bench Christian Yelich, Sal Frelick, More

When the Milwaukee Brewers announced their Game 3 starting lineup on Wednesday night, there were some familiar players not in the mix, with Christian Yelich being the biggest.

Milwaukee's Game 3 lineup was the following:

1. Jackson Chourio, LF
2. Brice Turang, 2B
3. William Contreras, C
4. Andrew Vaughn, DH
5. Jake Bauers, 1B
6. Garrett Mitchell, CF
7. Cooper Pratt, SS
8. Luis Lara, RF
9. Joey Ortiz, 3B

The bolded names are the changes made by the organization from Game 2 to Game 3. In Game 2, Bauers batted cleanup with Yelich at No. 5. Bauers dropped a spot, but remained in the lineup. Milwaukee didn't start Yelich, David Hamilton or Sal Frelick in the Game 3 showdown against Blake Snell and the Dodgers.

If you're a Brewers fan, this isn't anything to worry about, though.

Matchups, Matchups, Matchups

Oct 12, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers designated hitter Christian Yelich (22) hits a two-RBI single against Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto (not pictured) during the third inning in game two of the NLCS for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Snell not only is a left-handed pitcher. He's one of the best overall lefties in the game. Heading into the contest, we broke down the decisions facing Brewers manager Pat Murphy and how the club would have to weigh keeping Frelick and Hamilton in, or go for matchups by inserting righties into the mix. Ortiz and Vaughn are both right-handed hitters. Lara is a switch-hitter.

We made the case for the Brewers to keep Hamilton in the lineup after his masterful Game 2 performance, He went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and two stolen bases. But we also made the case for Lara to enter the lineup for matchup purposes against Snell.

The move that was a bit surprising was pulling Yelich in favor of Vaughn. Yelich has been the Brewers' second-best offensive weapon overall, behind just William Contreras. The idea does make sense, though. Vaughn has absolutely crushed lefties in 2026. Throughout the regular season, Vaughn slashed .336/.421/.517 with a .938 OPS, two home runs and 18 RBIs in 69 games played. Snell is about as tough as it gets from a left-handed perspective. Milwaukee entered the day with a two-game lead in the National League Championship Series. That doesn't end a series, though. If a club can get a three-game lead, that's about as close to clinching as you can get. Because of that, you have to keep your foot on the gas and that's what Milwaukee did with these decisions.

A baseball game is long. Just because Yelich, Hamilton and Frelick weren't in the starting lineup doesn't mean that they won't play in general. After Snell comes out, anything could happen. The decisions were based on matchups.

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