:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47320646/usa-today-8819978.0.jpg)
Well this is it folks. This is the final series, the final three games of the 2015 season. That only applies to the Brewers though. The Cubs have already secured a playoff spot as one of the Wild Card teams. That's the intrigue part of this series. As the Cubs are only two games back of the Pirates home field advantage is still up for grabs.
The magic number for the Pirates is two. And combination of Pirates wins and Cubs losses that adds up to 2 guarantees home field advantage for the Pirates. The Brewers will affect that by how well they play in these final two games. Home field advantage doesn't mean all that much but it's something. Who would you rather see get the advantage? It's a toss up for me.
The other thing to consider if draft position. The Brewers currently have the 6th worst record which equates to the 6th overall pick in next year's draft. The Marlins are in 7th position right now separated by a single game. It is possible for the Brewers to drop to that spot but no further as the Tigers in 8th position are separated from the Brewers by 5.5 games.
On the other side of the spectrum the Brewers are from the 4th overall pick by just 2 games. So it is possible for the Brewers to jump into that position by losing the last three games. The Rockies and Athletics are currently the 4th and 5th position teams. It is possible for the Brewers to ties these two teams. Then Milwaukee would end up with the 5th overall pick due to tiebreakers. They'd wind back at 6th overall if the Marlins were also to tie, again due to tie breakers.
The point is that each win or loss is actually very important for several teams for a couple different reasons. To be honest I don't really think there is a huge difference between the 7th overall pick and the 4th overall pick. The most important difference will be the money allotment. This year the fourth pick was worth about $1.5 million more than the seventh pick. Then you add up all the subsequent picks and it's probably a little north of $2 million. That's meaningful in the draft for sure. So hopefully the Brewers finish better than 7th overall which unfortunately probably means they'll have to lose some games this weekend.
Pitching Match-Ups
Friday October 2, 7:10 pm CST: Ariel Pena vs Jake Arrieta
Saturday October 3, 6:10 pm CST: Ty Wagner vs Kyle Hendricks
Sunday October 4, 2:10 pm CST: Jorge Lopez vs Dan Haren