2026 World Series predictions, props: Brewers end long drought by downing Rays
The two best teams in baseball this season will meet in the 2026 World Series.The Brewers, who went 103-59 and led Major League Baseball with a plus-214 run differential in the regular season, will face the Rays, who paced the American League with 98 wins.There are plenty of similarities between these two clubs both on and off the field, but the betting market is giving a distinct edge to the Brewers.Milwaukee, which began the season as a 20/1 outsider to win the championship, has -172 odds at FanDuel Sportsbook to lift the trophy at the end of this best-of-seven series.Tampa Bay, which entered Opening Day priced around 50/1 to win it all, is +148 to win the Fall Classic.Most folks believe the Brewers quietly went about their business in 2026, deploying small-ball tactics en route to their first-ever 100-win season.There is some truth to that, but Milwaukee’s recipe for success is more complicated than just leaning on their elite pitching staff and manufacturing enough runs through craft and guile.Pat Murphy’s Brewers are the most versatile team in baseball.
Yes, they can hit to contact, press their advantage on the basepaths and wear out starting pitchers, but they also can adapt to their surroundings better than any team in the majors.The Dodgers found that out the hard way.The NLCS was billed as a battle between opposites.
The free-spending Dodgers were built on power and stardom, while the Brewers were trying to bring down Goliath with an ensemble cast taking a death-by-paper-cuts approach.Turns out, the opposite happened.Milwaukee embarrassed Los Angeles in a sweep by doing what the Dodgers do, but only better.They weren’t the contact-happy Brewers everybody expected.Instead, Milwaukee mashed its way into the World Series with seven home runs and 11 extra-base hits in four games.
The Dodgers only tallied six extra-base hits and one homer.This may seem irrelevant because the Rays could hardly be a more different opponent from the Dodgers, but the point ...