Brewers' Christian Yelich Addresses Milwaukee Being 'Underdogs' in NLCS vs Dodgers

Christian Yelich weighed in on who has the upper hand.

Oct 11, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Trevor Megill (29) high-fives designated hitter Christian Yelich (22) prior to game one of the NLCS for the 2026 MLB Playoffs against the Los Angeles Dodgers at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

MLB.com polled 34 staff members to predict the outcome of the National League Championship Series. The result was a perfect split: 17 chose the Los Angeles Dodgers to win and 17 chose the Milwaukee Brewers. ESPN.com wasn't nearly as ambivalent. Of its 15 voting staff writers, 13 chose the Brewers.

Christian Yelich probably wasn't reading the online polls before he addressed the media Saturday at American Family Field.

"Look, if you want to play who's favored in this series, it's probably not us," he said. "But it doesn't matter."

Astute baseball observers weren't ready to knock the Brewers down a peg going into their NLCS rematch against the Dodgers. Since being swept in a four-game NLCS a year ago, Milwaukee led all teams with 103 regular-season wins in 2026, then beat the San Diego Padres in a four-game NLDS.

The postseason has only validated the Brewers' standing as the favorites.

Ace Jacob Misiorowski lasted just four innings in Game 1 of the NLDS and 4.1 innings in Game 1 of the NLCS. The Brewers won both games.

Milwaukee made three errors in Game 2 of the NLDS and won that game, too. They're playing with the confidence associated with teams that don't feel the pressure to play perfect baseball — and their confidence is being validated.

"If people were saying that we're a great team, you still have to go win the games and play the games," Yelich said. "And the same goes for [the Dodgers], like they have to play the games and win the games.

"That's kind of how we look at it as a team. It doesn't matter what the commentary is surrounding the series or the teams, or who's the favorite [and] who's the underdog. It's going to be decided on the field if we're going to prove who's worthy of going to the World Series in the next week or so."

The Brewers' 2-1 victory in Game 1 was won on the margins.

Closer Trevor Megill issued back-to-back walks in the ninth inning, only to record the third out with the tying runner in scoring position. A solo home run by Brice Turang, who has a .619 OPS in the postseason, was the diffrence on the scoreboard. Only one of the other 12 hits in the game went for extra bases; the Dodgers grounded into three double plays.

Added up, it's not a lot to build a narrative around. Win or lose, Yelich is right — the Brewers and Dodgers are so evenly matched, the difference between a win and a loss is a difficult thing to predict.

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on X/Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.