The 2026 World Series matchup is set and the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays will open the Fall Classic at American Family Field on Friday night. The Brewers, fresh off an NLCS sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers, have been resting up since Thursday. The Rays, meanwhile, took six games to take down the Cleveland Guardians and will only have three days off before Game 1.
This is a meeting of the two No. 1 seeds in baseball, owners of the best regular-season records in their respective leagues, which happens less often than you'd think in MLB; this is only the sixth time in the Wild Card Era. It's also two franchises that have never won a World Series, meaning we're guaranteed a first-time champion regardless of the outcome. It'll be the end of a hard-fought battle between two similar teams, built around strong pitching (Jacob Misiorowski and Drew Rasmussen, among them) and small ball.
The Brewers have more depth in the lineup; the Rays have more power. Milwaukee has a better bullpen. Who wins is up to the players and kind of the managers, depending on who you ask.
As for your CBS Sports MLB experts, the best we can do is predict the results. Mike Axisa: I am very much looking forward to this series. I love the style these two teams play.
Lots of contact, lots of stolen bases, some power throughout both lineups. I think the Brewers are just a tiny bit better though, and maybe more than a tiny bit better if Jacob Misiorowski looks like regular-season Misiorowski and not the guy who labored in the NLDS and NLCS. Milwaukee has more depth through the bottom of the lineup and certainly in the bullpen.
That's the separator for me. It's been a struggle for Rays manager Kevin Cash to bridge the gap between starter and closer Bryan Baker this postseason. Brewers manager Pat Murphy is loaded with high-end bullpen options.
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