The Milwaukee Brewers are hoping the combination of Aaron Ashby a combination of relievers gives them a 2-0 playoff series lead.
The Chicago Cubs are hoping Shota Imanaga is the answer to thwart a Brewers offense that socked around their starter in Game 1.
Game 2 of the NLDS playoffs between the Brewers and the Cubs is Monday, Oct. 6, at American Family Field, with all eyes on the pitching matchup (in addition to Jackson Chourio’s injury).
Here’s what to know about the pitchers for Brewers-Cubs Game 2:
Who is pitching for the Brewers today?
The Brewers will go with Aaron Ashby as an “opener” in Game 2 of the playoff series against the Cubs. That means the left-handed reliever, who has starting experience, likely will go a couple innings to begin the game.
Ashby threw 16 pitches in 1⅓ innings and didn’t allow a hit after relieving Freddy Peralta in the sixth inning in the Brewers’ 9-3 Game 1 victory.
Watch the Brewers in the playoffs on Sling
Who is Aaron Ashby? Brewers Game 2 pitcher
Game 2 will be a big moment for Ashby, a homegrown player who the Brewers drafted in 2018 and locked up on a five-year contract in the summer of 2022.
At the time, Ashby, then a starter, said that he hoped to “outperform the contract.”
Since then, it’s been an arduous journey for Ashby, though it appears he’s found his place. Health is the main reason. He missed the entire 2023 season with a devastating shoulder injury. Ashby returned in 2024 but he struggled and went on to spend months in Class AAA Nashville. He returned to Milwaukee in late August for good and was effective down the stretch out of the bullpen, allowing only three runs in nearly 20 innings.
The Brewers’ former top pitching prospect, however, suffered an oblique injury at the end of spring training in 2025 and missed the first two months of the season. Since his return, he’s 5-2 with a 2.16 ERA, 1.17 WHIP in 66⅔ innings (43 games).
For his career, Ashby has pitched 97 games with 26 starts with an 11-16 record and a 3.62 ERA and 1.27 WHIP across 234 innings.
The best start of his career actually came against the Cubs in May 2022. He struck out 12 and allowed just one run in six innings across 100 pitches in a 3-1 Brewers win.
Shota Imanaga: Cubs starting pitcher in Game 2 vs Brewers
Shota Imanaga gets the ball for the second time in the 2025 playoffs.
He pitched four innings in the Cubs’ 3-0 loss to the Padres in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series. He allowed two runs, struck out three and walked two in 67 pitches.
Imanaga is in his second year in MLB after playing in the Nippon Professional Baseball league in Japan from 2016-23. He played for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.
Imanaga has been as advertised. In Year 1, he pitched 29 games, with a 15-3 record, 2.91 ERA, 1.02 WHIP with 174 strikeouts and 28 walks. He was an all-star and also part of a combined no-hitter last season. In Year 2 he’s been solid as well. Imanaga had a 9-8 record with a 3.73 ERA, 117 strikeouts, 26 walks and 0.99 WHIP across 144⅔ innings pitched.
For his MLB career, in 54 games, he’s 24-11 with a 3.28 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 291 strikeouts to 54 walks.
Shota Imanaga vs the Brewers
Imanaga knows the Brewers well. And he’s performed well against them.
He’s pitched against the Brewers six times in the last two years and is 3-3.
In 17⅔ innings this season, he has allowed seven earned runs and three home runs with 17 strikeouts to just three walks. The Brewers will have to earn everything they get against Imanaga. He has a 1-2 record against the Brewers but it has been either feast or famine in Cubs run support when he’s on the mound.
In his last start against the Brewers on Aug. 21, a game in which Priester started as well, Imanaga pitched seven innings and allowed only three hits and two runs. But it came in a losing effort as the Brewers topped the Cubs, 4-1.
He struck out eight in five innings of a 10-3 win over the Brewers on July 30. William Contrearas hit a pair of solo home runs off Imanaga.
Imanaga also pitched into the sixth inning when he went 5⅔ innings and allowed two runs with four strikeouts and one walk in a 4-0 loss on May 4. Imanaga, however, exited the game due to a left hamstring strain.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Who is pitching for the Brewers today? Probable pitchers vs Cubs in Game 2 of NLDS playoffs
Reporting by Christopher Kuhagen, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
