Surely, you have some familiarity with the Chicago Cubs.
For the first time, the Milwaukee Brewers will face their National League Central Division rival in the postseason after the Cubs dispatched the San Diego Padres in the wild-card series.
But, if you’re just now tuning in for the biggest part of the baseball season, here’s what to know about the team 90 miles south:
How did the Cubs fare against the Brewers in 2025?
The Cubs won the season series between the two teams, 7-6. Here’s how those games went:
- May 2: Cubs 10, Brewers 0. The Brewers fell back to one game below .500 in a game at American Family Field that was over before it started. Tyler Alexander didn’t make it out of the first inning as an opener, allowing two earned runs before he turned it over to Quinn Priester, who allowed seven earned runs in 4 ⅓ innings — all scoring in the second. Pete Crow-Armstrong homered twice. Jake Bauers pitched a clean inning, at least.
- May 3: Cubs 6, Brewers 2. Former Cubs pitcher José Quintana couldn’t keep his old team in check, allowing six earned runs in five innings. Rhys Hoskins homered against Jameson Taillon, but the Brewers only had one more extra-base hit and finished with four total hits and one walk.
- May 4: Brewers 4, Cubs 0. Freddy Peralta dueled Shota Imanaga to a scoreless draw until the sixth, when the Brewers broke through for four runs, punctuated by a Caleb Durbin double. All the run-scoring at-bats came against reliever Julian Merryweather, who was released at the emd of the month and eventually singed as a minor-league free agent with the Brewers in August. Peralta allowed just four hits in six innings.
- June 17: Cubs 5, Brewers 3. Isaac Collins hit a two-run homer to give the Brewers the lead at Wrigley, but Chad Patrick couldn’t keep it forever, allowing a three-run homer to Seiya Suzuki in the fifth. Crow-Armstrong homered in the eighth for a big insurance run.
- June 19: Brewers 8, Cubs 7. After a rainout the day before, the Brewers took an 8-3 lead thanks to homers from Hoskins, Durbin and Collins, but then they had to hold on for dear life after the Cubs scored two in the seventh and two in the eighth. Trevor Megill induced a game-ending double play from Seiya Suzuki with the tying run on base.
- July 28: Brewers 8, Cubs 4. Jacob Misiorowski had a wobbly first inning and allowed three runs, but he battled back to strike out seven through four, and the Brewers offense came to his defense. Andrew Vaughn, Sal Frelick and Christian Yelich homered.
- July 29: Brewers 9, Cubs 3. Milwaukee rallied for three runs in the fifth and Vaughn hit a grand slam in the fourth to make a winner of Priester, with Aaron Ashby working 3 ⅓ innings of relief, allowing just one hit.
- July 30: Cubs 10, Brewers 3. Peralta allowed four runs in the third and five runs total, including a homer to the first batter of the game, Michael Busch. The first double in the career of Moisés Ballesteros scored three runs for Chicago. William Contreras homered for Milwaukee, kicking off a red-hot run that would last deep into August. The Brewers won their next 14 games after this loss.
- Aug. 18: Brewers 7, Cubs 0. Peralta dominated, allowing one hit through six innings, and Cade Horton left early for the Cubs with a blister. Milwaukee finally broke it open with four runs in the eighth. Brice Turang and Durbin homered.
- Aug. 19: Cubs 6, Brewers 4. The first game of a doubleheader — the second game had been rained out the day before — ended with Chad Patrick allowing five runs in five innings, including a three-run homer to Willi Castro. Yelich homered, and the Brewers had the tying runs on base in the ninth.
- Aug. 19: Cubs 4, Brewers 1. It was a doubleheader sweep when the Brewers couldn’t get to Taillon after a first-inning run. Brandon Woodruff allowed three runs but didn’t make it through the fifth.
- Aug. 20: Cubs 4, Brewers 3. Milwaukee had lost three games in its Central lead in 48 hours after a narrow loss that nearly featured a comeback; the Brewers scored once in the ninth and had runners at second and third when Contreras hit a screamer that Nico Hoerner caught to end the game. Former Brewers starter Colin Rea got the win. Misiorowski pitched OK but walked the bases loaded in the third and then yielded a bases-clearing double to Busch. It was the only hit Misiorowski allowed in four innings.
- Aug. 21: Brewers 4, Cubs 1. It was a sigh of relief when the Brewers closed the season series with a win, scoring twice in the second on a Turang homer and twice in the eighth. Priester allowed one run in 4⅓ innings.
You may have heard of the Cubs manager
Craig Counsell, the Whitefish Bay native who stands as the all-time winningest manager in Brewers history during his tenure from 2015 through 2023, shocked the world when he left for the Cubs job before the 2024 season.
Brewers fans have expressed their displeasure with Counsell quite loudly at times when he has returned to American Family Field.
His first two seasons could ultimately be termed a success; after all, the Cubs are back in the playoffs for the first time in five years. But his team won 83 games last year and 92 this year, tallies that finished second to his old team in Milwaukee. He will remain a polarizing figure in Milwaukee for years to come.
Craig Counsell isn’t the only former Brewers player with the Cubs, including one player who was here earlier this year
When the Brewers promoted Misiorowski to the big-league club and asked Aaron Civale to move into a bullpen role, Civale asked for a trade instead. The Brewers obliged, sending him to Chicago … but to the White Sox. That trade is one of the biggest moments in 2025, given that the Brewers caught lightning in a bottle by acquiring Vaughn, who filled in for an injured Hoskins and became one of the biggest Brewres stories of the year. Civale didn’t fare well with the White Sox, and he was waived in August, then picked up by the Cubs.
Now, he’s pitching in relief after all, where he impressively posted a 2.08 ERA in five games (13 innings) for the Cubs. He was placed on the wild-card roster and could be back pitching at American Family Field.
He’s not the only former Brewers player on the pitching staff:
- Colin Rea, who pitched with Milwaukee in 2021, 2023 and 2024, making 49 starts, had a 3.95 ERA in 32 games (27 starts) for the Cubs this season.
- Drew Pomeranz, who became a lethal bullpen arm for the 2019 Brewers after a trade-deadline acquisition, has been one of Chicago’s best relievers, with a 2.17 ERA and 1.067 WHIP in 50 innings at age 36.
- Taylor Rogers, a less-heralded trade-deadline acquisition for the Brewers in 2022, was acquired by the Cubs at the deadline this year and has struggled a bit, posting a 5.09 ERA and 1.245 WHIP, with four homers allowed in 18 innings.
Cubs third-base coach Quintin Berry was the Brewers’ first-base coach from 2021 through last year.
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The Cubs defense is one of the best in baseball
Statcast regards the Cubs as having the fourth-best team defense in baseball by outs above average (31, just ahead of Milwaukee’s 29). By FanGraphs’ defensive runs saved metric, the Cubs are second behind Toronto, while Milwaukee is down in 12th.
Needless to say, the Cubs are among the best in the business, with Crow-Armstrong regarded as an elite defensive center fielder, along with up-the-middle defenders Hoerner at second base and Dansby Swanson at shortstop. That doesn’t look ideal for a team like the Brewers that has thrived on putting the pressure on defenses. This Cubs team isn’t going to make mistakes.
The Cubs are missing one of their best pitchers, for now
Rookie Cade Horton was one of the best pitchers in baseball during the second half of the season, with a 1.03 ERA after the all-star break to far and away lead everyone with at least 50 innings. But Horton landed on the injured list with a rib fracture just before season’s end, making his return dicey. There’s a chance he can pitch late in the division series. Cubs starters only have a 4.41 ERA against the Brewers this season, though Taillon, Rea and Imanaga closed the final series between the two teams by allowing five earned runs in 18 ⅔ innings (2.41 ERA).
Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong faded in the second half
By wRC+, Kyle Tucker was easily the best hitter in the Cubs lineup (136), and he posted 22 homers and 25 stolen bases in a year that was limited by a calf injury. The free-agent-to-be looked like an MVP candidate in the first half of the season and then faded with just a .690 OPS from July onward, including 20 plate appearances since his return; he’s had three hits in those trips.
Tucker has just five homers since July 1 and 21 RBIs. But with a payday looming and a demonstrated track record, it’s hard to take him lightly, even though he has just six hits in 47 at-bats over the past two postseasons.
Speaking of once-MVP candidates, Crow-Armstrong is by far the team’s best player by WAR, though that accounts for his superb defensive skills. He has a .686 OPS since July 1, hampered greatly by his .274 on-base percentage in that time, though he’s never been a high-OBP guy. That’s a far cry from the .836 OPS he had through June, with 21 of his 31 homers.
They’re going to steal as much as the Brewers and get thrown out way less
Nobody tops the Tampa Bay Rays in MLB base-stealing this year (194 swipes), but the Brewers are second (164) and Cubs third (161). The difference is that the Brewers have been thrown out 53 times on the basepaths and the Cubs only 35, and a good chunk of those belong to Crow-Armstrong (35 steals, caught eight times).
The Brewers grade out by Statcast as the best baserunning team in baseball, with the Cubs fifth, so expect something to happen in the running game that impacts this game. This is perhaps where Berry comes in; the base-stealing guru was lured away from Milwaukee to Counsell’s staff last offseason.
The Cubs bullpen got better in the second half
The Cubs’ bullpen ERA by month is a journey, with a bad July and mediocre August followed by an effective September. Trade-deadline acquisition Andrew Kittredge has been a hammer since he arrived, and Brad Keller has been as reliable as anyone, with a sterling 2.07 ERA for the year in 70 innings. They also have quality left-handed options in Pomeranz and Caleb Thielbar.
The Cubs feature a litany of veterans on the pitching staff, with Keller (30), Thielbar (38), Pomeranz (36), Kittredge (35), Boyd (34), Rea (35), Civale (30), Taylor Rogers (34), Taillon (33) and Imanaga (32). Among pitchers on the wild-card roster, only Michael Soroka (28) and Daniel Palencia (25) are under 30.
What is the Brewers-Cubs schedule in the National League Division Series?
- Oct. 4: Cubs vs. Brewers at American Family Field, time TBA (1:08 p.m. or 8:08 p.m.)
- Oct. 6: Cubs vs. Brewers at American Family Field, time TBA
- Oct. 8: Brewers vs. Cubs at Wrigley Field, time TBA
- Oct. 9: Brewers vs. Cubs at Wrigley Field, time TBA (if necessary)
- Oct. 11: Cubs vs. Brewers at American Family Field, time TBA (if necessary)
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Seven things to know about Brewers’ playoff opponent Chicago Cubs
