Trevor Megill, Pitch by Pitch: NLCS Game 3 Analysis

Mookie Betts reached a 3–1 count against Trevor Megill with two outs in the ninth. An ABS challenge had already changed Megill’s second pitch from a strike to a ball. Betts fouled off fastballs at 97.9 and 99.2 mph before tipping a 98.8 mph four-seamer into the catcher’s glove for strike three.

That seven-pitch confrontation ended Milwaukee’s 6–2 win and gave Megill the final four outs of NLCS Game 3. He had entered with two outs in the eighth and Shohei Ohtani on first, retiring Will Smith before working a scoreless ninth.

Megill allowed no hits or walks and struck out two on 18 pitches. The season comparison contains 874 physical pitches in 63 regular-season Milwaukee relief appearances from March 29 through September 25.

A familiar two-pitch repertoire with more fastballs

The mix was 13 four-seamers and five knuckle curves. Fastballs accounted for 72.2% of the outing, compared with 64.6% in the baseline. Their average speed was 98.6 mph against 97.9, while knuckle curves averaged 89.3 against 88.0.

Four-seamers supplied four called strikes and two misses in six attempts. The knuckle curve added one called strike and one miss in two attempts. Across both pitches, the eight swing attempts produced three misses, with five called strikes acquired separately.

The first confrontation required a different finish. Smith took two balls and a fastball strike, missed a knuckle curve and then flew out on another at 88.7 mph. That out stranded Ohtani and allowed Megill to start the ninth with the bases empty.

The final strikeout survived a corrected call

Enrique Hernández lined a fastball out to begin the ninth. Edman then took a fastball strike, missed another, fouled off a third and missed an 89.6 mph knuckle curve. The final pitch to Betts was a caught foul tip, which enters the missed-attempt category used consistently in these comparisons.

Betts’ overturned call remains a ball in the ledger and changes the counts before every following pitch. The review creates no additional pitch row. This distinction matters in a seven-pitch plate appearance that otherwise might be reconstructed with the wrong count.

The two balls put into play against Megill left the bat at 87.0 and 92.3 mph. Neither met the 95 mph hard-hit threshold. The combination of those contacts, taken fastballs and three missed attempts explains an efficient finish without requiring a large swing-and-miss sample.

Megill’s four-seam average was 98.8 mph on two pitches in the eighth and 98.6 on 11 in the ninth. The small first sample gives little basis for an inning trend. The ninth-inning record shows how fastballs established Edman’s two-strike count and ultimately finished Betts.