Ahead of Game 1 against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Milwaukee Brewers released their opening batting order. Jackson Chourio leads off from left field, followed by first baseman Jake Bauers in the second spot.

Christian Yelich is slotted into the designated-hitter position and bats fourth. William Contreras occupies the cleanup spot, with Brice Turang batting fifth at second base. Garrett Mitchell is listed seventh in centre field, and Cooper Pratt is pencilled in eighth at shortstop.

With a right-handed pitcher taking the mound for Tampa Bay, Milwaukee's lineup is constructed with a heavy lean toward left-handed bats. Six of the nine batters in the order swing from the left side.

Jacob Misiorowski is set to take the pitching assignment for Milwaukee in Game 1. He and Nick Martinez bring contrasting approaches to the mound. Misiorowski relies on raw arm speed to generate strikeouts, while Martinez unsettles batters through an unconventional release and a changeup that routinely produces soft contact.

First pitch for the television broadcast is scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern time.

A notable development out of Milwaukee involves the club restructuring the upper portion of its batting order. Four roster adjustments place Jake Bauers and Christian Yelich higher in the order, while Brice Turang and William Contreras each drop to lower positions.

Following his selection as NLCS Most Valuable Player, Bauers has been moved up to the second spot in the lineup. Across 14 plate appearances against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the 31-year-old recorded four hits during the series. His performance moved him out of the fourth slot and into the second position.

His postseason numbers reflect production across elevated competition. Through 27 plate appearances this October, Bauers has posted a .292 batting average, a .370 on-base percentage, and a .333 slugging mark.

Milwaukee's captain enters Game 3 having recorded two hits across his two NLCS appearances, both coming while batting fifth. He has been bumped up the order for that game.

Acknowledging platoon split considerations, Milwaukee's manager opted to load the batting order with right-handed hitters. Frelick takes right field, while Hamilton is listed at third base.

With Milwaukee's pitching matchups set to feature right-handed arms across Tampa Bay's rotation throughout the series, the Brewers' batting order is expected to remain left-hand-heavy from game to game. For Game 4, Tampa Bay's pitching plan under consideration places a left-handed opener on the mound before handing things over to Griffin Jax.

Among the pitches Martinez throws, the changeup has drawn attention from analysts and opponents. The pitch recorded a 30.7 percent whiff rate, even as swing-and-miss totals across his overall arsenal remained relatively modest.

During the Tampa Bay pitcher's All-Star campaign, batting tendencies ran counter to the typical platoon pattern across the regular-season schedule. Left-handed batters posted a .236 average with a .266 on-base percentage and .393 slugging, while right-handed batters recorded marks of .267, .295, and .410 across those same three categories.

Pitchers facing Milwaukee batters have rarely offered more than one well-located fastball per plate appearance, leaving hitters with limited margin for error when that pitch arrives.