The Brewers are set up beautifully for Game 7 of the NLCS

The headline last year: The Dodgers are set up beautifully for the NLCS.

The sub-hed: “The Dodgers didn’t have to use any surprises or fancy tricks to get through the Diamondbacks, and that will help an awful lot.”

The point: The Dodgers got through the 2017 NLDS with all three lives and a continue left. It was going to help them.

And it did. It helped them all the way to the World Series. Going into the 2017 NLCS, they had a rested Clayton Kershaw and a rested Rich Hill behind him. Alex Wood didn’t even have to throw a pitch. Kenley Jansen threw 3⅔ innings, was was two innings fewer than he threw in the 2016 NLDS against the Nationals. They were stacked and rested, stacked and rested.

This is relevant to our interests because the Brewers are set up beautifully for Game 7 of the 2018 NLCS. It’s so obvious, so pertinent to everything that’s about to happen. The Brewers are trying to scam their way to the World Series with a bullpen and a dream, and the coppers are closing in, and look, you gotta give them a chance. This just might be crazy enough to work. And it’s looking good. The Brewers bullpen can come into the fourth inning of a Game 7, if needed. Maybe even the third inning.

Corbin Burnes made sure of that. He pitched a fine two innings, and according to FanGraphs, that was good for a .137 win probability added. Even if you don’t know the ins and outs of WPA, just know that it was the best for any pitcher to appear in the game. No pitcher added more to his team’s chances to win than Burnes. Good for him.

But that’s underselling it.

It’s underselling it because Josh Hader was warming in the bullpen, and Craig Counsell was waiting, waiting, waiting to pull the trigger. He’ll never admit to the breaking point. Was it one baserunner? Was it two? Hader was ready, after all, and the manager had to figure out whether it was worth it to play that particular card at that particular moment. The Brewers were up by four, but another single and maybe another single, and then the tying run would be on deck, which, technically, is a save situation, so, oh, no, no, GET ME HADER.

It would have been so, so easy to pull that lever. If Burnes gives up one line drive in the eighth, Counsell might have brought Hader in, spending bullets that he might have needed for a Game 7.

So give Corbin Burnes a cool .100 head start on his Game 7 WPA, then. He’s earned it. Because he didn’t get weird, that means super-megaton reliever Josh Hader is fully, fully rested for Game 7. We knew the Brewers were going to have to manage all of this deftly, and now they’re here with a pennant on the line, perfectly set up. Go through the entire bullpen.

How many innings is Corey Knebel good for (25 pitches in Game 6) in Game 7?

Probably one.

How many innings is Jeremy Jeffress good for (13 pitches)?

Two, at least.

How many innings is Joakim Soria good for (DNP - coach’s decision)?

Probably two. I mean, he’ll probably go one, but if you need to stretch him, he’s there.

What about extra innings, if needed?

Zach Davies has thrown 18 pitches this series, after subbing for the injured Gio Gonzalez. He’s good for seven innings, give or take.

Brandon Woodruff has thrown 97, so he’s probably off limits after a batter or three! But Corbin Burnes, so dominant in Game 6, only threw 24 pitches. He’s probably good for an inning, at least.

We haven’t even gotten to Xavier Cedeño or Freddy Peralta, both of whom have arms of doom. Unpolished arms of doom, but still. Neither one of them gives you the meat sweats when they come into a game. They’re legitimate major league arms.

And that’s the full rundown of the Brewers bullpen. Knebel can probably pitch an inning, and Jeffress can likely go two. Soria is fully rested, so he can go for as long as possible, and if Joakim Soria runs into trouble early, the Brewers knew they can rely on Davies to eat up as many innings as needed. That’s before you get to Burns, Cedeño, and Peralta.

For a team with a strategy of “Bullpen more, silly,” this is almost a best-case scenario.

Can’t help but think that I’m missing something.

Knebel, Jeffress, Soria, yes, all closers at one point. Davis, and Woodruff, starters, all, at some point. A couple of live arms behind all of those pitchers, too. Seems formidable.

But there’s something missing and I can’t put my finger on OH, RIGHT, IT’S JOSH HADER, THE ULTIMATE POSTSEASON WEAPON. Is Hader good for two innings tomorrow? Three innings? Put him in at the first sign of trouble, or put him in when the game is indisputably on the line? Maybe start the game with him throwing three scoreless. It doesn’t matter. There are two off days baked in, regardless of the outcome, so pitch him and pitch him hard.

The Brewers’ staff might be capable of 20 innings on Saturday, and they have the ability to go deep into a Game 7 with quality arms all the way down. They also happen to have the ultimate postseason weapon, whom they will deploy with the minimum amount of provocation. The Brewers can put 2018 Andrew Miller More Or Less into the game and suck two innings away from the other team. They can time it for a maximum advantage.

It’ll all fall apart with one loose brick, of course. If Jeffress doesn’t have it in his appearance, well, that stinks, and everyone moves up a notch. And if Knebel is tired, or Burnes can’t come back that quickly, or what if Hader doesn’t want to come into the third inning and screws up because he isn’t ready or ... it’s almost like you shouldn’t trust relievers.

But this is how the Brewers drew it up. They used a super-fine pencil and the best inks to draw it up, you know. They’re proud to show off the blueprints if you ask. This series isn’t over, not even close, so don’t take this as a prediction that doom awaits the Dodgers, but the Brewers’ bullpen is rested and effective..

Within reason, this scenario was about as good as the Brewers could have hoped for. They knew they didn’t have a trio of ace starters. They knew that it was going to take a village for them to advance to the World Series, and they were prepared to grind that village down to a fine dust. They didn’t have to. They can approach Game 7 as if it’s a Game 7 — all hands on deck — except they don’t have to ask all their pitchers to inhale sharply and dig deep. They can just ask their pitchers to have a normal game.

Those games are what got the Brewers where they are now. It’s why they’re set up beautifully for Game 7, with a chance to go to the World Series. It might not work. But if it doesn’t, it’s not because the blueprint was lacking.

The Brewers are exactly where they want to be.

They just need to, you know, win.