2025 MLB Odds: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Milwaukee Brewers MLB NLCS series preview and prediction
The powerhouse Los Angeles Dodgers meet the small-market, but top-seeded Milwaukee Brewers in a classic October contrast.
The Dodgers, baseball’s glamour franchise, are in the NLCS for the sixth time in nine years, while the Brewers, despite being MLB’s winningest team this season, still carry the underdog tag.
Milwaukee swept the Dodgers in their regular-season meetings and owns the No. 1 seed, but it’s the Dodgers who enter as the betting favourite. Game 1 begins Monday, Oct. 13, in Milwaukee, with Blake Snell facing Freddy Peralta.
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Dodgers vs. Brewers MLB NLCS Series Odds and Betting Trends
Oddsmakers at Sports Interaction have opened Los Angeles as a -220 favourite to win the series, with Milwaukee at +180. The Dodgers’ rest advantage after finishing off the Phillies in four games sharply contrasts with the Brewers, who had to grind through five games against the Cubs just to get here.
Milwaukee went 6–0 against L.A. in the regular season, but those games were back in July, when the Dodgers were injury-riddled and the Brewers were at their peak. Since Sept. 10, Blake Snell has allowed just three runs in 37 innings, and he and Shohei Ohtani both enter Games 1 and 2, however the Dodgers choose to play it, on full rest.
The betting narrative is simple: Milwaukee’s bullpen and scrappy offence versus Los Angeles’ star power and rotation dominance.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers arrive in Milwaukee on a roll, dramatically dispatching the Phillies and showing why their October pedigree still matters. Despite Ohtani’s 1-for-18 skid and Freddie Freeman’s slow going, L.A. found ways to win with elite pitching and timely hitting from veterans Enrique Hernandez and Teoscar Hernández.
Blake Snell’s postseason dominance (1.38 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 13 innings) has set the tone. Behind him, Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are lined up to pitch early in the series, both on extended rest. Manager Dave Roberts has remade his bullpen around Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki, who threw 4.1 scoreless innings with two saves in the NLDS, and converted starter Emmet Sheehan, who’s emerged as the setup ace.
The Dodgers’ biggest edge lies in their ability to eventually get to opposing starters. They wore down Philadelphia’s elite arms late in games, scoring 11 of their 16 NLDS runs after the fifth inning.
Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee’s return to the NLCS marks another high-water point for one of baseball’s most efficient organizations. Despite ranking 22nd in payroll, the Brewers posted MLB’s best record thanks to contact hitting, elite defence, and a deep bullpen that can touch triple-digit velocity almost at will.
The Brewers’ five-game battle with the Cubs showcased that trademark grit. Manager Pat Murphy leaned heavily on his bullpen, especially rookies Jacob Misiorowski and Abner Uribe, who each hit 104 mph in the NLDS, and that workload is a concern entering the NLCS.
However, the rotation behind Freddy Peralta is thin: Brandon Woodruff is out for the year, Jose Quintana isn’t overpowering, and rookie Quinn Priester was hit hard in Chicago.
Milwaukee’s bullpen can shorten games, but they’ll need length from Peralta, and perhaps a spark from Misiorowski in a hybrid starter role, to keep pace with the Dodgers’ arms.
MLB NLCS Prediction: Who Will Win Dodgers vs. Brewers?
This series has all the ingredients for classic October drama: the big-market juggernaut against the small-market machine that refuses to blink. Milwaukee’s bullpen can keep games close, and their home-field energy at American Family Field will be real. But over a seven-game grind, Los Angeles simply has too much elite starting pitching, too many ways to score, and a bullpen that now looks postseason-ready.
If Ohtani even partially breaks out of his slump, the gap widens fast.
Prediction: Dodgers in 6.
L.A. overcomes a feisty Brewers squad behind dominant pitching from Snell and Ohtani, booking yet another trip to the World Series.
