The Milwaukee Brewers are set to take on the Chicago Cubs on Saturday for the start of the NLDS. Milwaukee got the first-round bye while the Cubs battled against the San Diego Padres in the Wild Card, ending their season on Thursday.
With both clubs not too far apart from each other and being division rivals, these two have a ton of history. That history goes a step forward after Craig Counsell left Milwaukee to take the Cubs' job for the 2024 season.
Counsell has proved to be a great hire for Chicago. He has brought a ton of success to the team, especially this season, but Christian Yelich is not too worried.
Brewers' Christian Yelich douses Counsell rivalry flames ahead of NLDS
On Friday, the Brewers met with the media to answer questions about their upcoming series. Here, Yelich was asked about how he felt facing his former manager, and the three-time All-Star was honest with his answer, via ESPN's Jesse Rogers.
"We're not going to have to worry about a blitz package or two-high safety look from Counsell."
Yelich is not worried about facing Counsell as he believes baseball managers might not be as important as somebody like a football coach. Baseball managers do not have different defensive packages or offensive schemes that the team will have to prepare for, like NFL players do.
However, that is not to say that baseball managers do not hold an important job. They are tasked with putting together the best batting order and making pitching and hitting matchups that make sense.
For Yelich and the Brewers, they will head into this series with the same mindset they have held all year. Holding the best regular-season record in the MLB, they should feel confident, but certainly cannot overlook the Cubs.