Wisconsin-Milwaukee Brewers ties in the 2024 World Series

The 2024 World Series begins Friday night in Los Angeles when the Dodgers take on the New York Yankees at Dodger Stadium. Participating players include two former Brewers, a former Brewers draft pick and a Wisconsin native.

The Yankees' Trent Grisham and Jake Cousins ​​both played for the Brewers, with Grisham wearing a Milwaukee jersey in 2019 and Cousins ​​playing for the Crew from 2021 to 2023. On the Los Angeles side, former Brewers 10th-round pick Anthony Banda will be out of the bullpen for the Dodgers, while Kenosha native Gavin Lux will start at second base for LA. Here's a little more about each of these Wisconsin/Milwaukee connections.

Trent Grisham

Grisham is perhaps best known in Milwaukee for his costly error in the 2019 NL Wild Card Game against the Washington Nationals, who of course went on to win the World Series. Still, he had a good rookie season with the Crew, hitting .231/.328/.410 (90 OPS+) with six home runs and 24 RBIs in 51 games.

Grisham, Milwaukee's first-round pick in 2015 (No. 15 overall), was traded to the Padres in the offseason along with Zach Davies, which led to Eric Lauer and Luis Urias going to the Brewers. Grisham was involved in a trade again last offseason, moving along with Juan Soto to the Yankees in exchange for Michael King, Kyle Higashioka, Randy Vásquez, Jhony Brito and Drew Thorpe. In 76 regular season games with the Yankees, he hit .190/.290/.385 (90 OPS+) with nine home runs and 31 RBIs. Grisham has been on the roster for both of New York's postseason series so far, but has not yet appeared.

Jake Cousins

Cousins, the cousin of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins, was selected by the Nationals in the 20th round (No. 613 overall) in 2017. He joined the Brewers organization as a free agent in 2019 and worked his way up from the Arizona League to the majors, making his MLB debut with Milwaukee in June 2021. In parts of three seasons with the Brewers, Cousins ​​made 51 appearances with a 3.08 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 52 ²⁄₃ innings.

The Astros claimed Cousins ​​off Milwaukee's waivers in July 2023, even though he never played for Houston. He signed with the White Sox in free agency last offseason before being traded to the Yankees just four days into the season. He appeared in 37 games for New York this season with a 2.37 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 38 innings, including his first career save. He made three less successful postseason appearances this year, posting a 6.75 ERA and six strikeouts over 2 ²⁄₃ innings.

Anthony Banda

Banda is probably the least known of the four players on this list (at least among Brewers fans). Originally selected in the 33rd round of the 2011 draft by Arizona, the Brewers drafted Banda in the 10th round of the 2012 draft out of San Jacinto Junior College (No. 335 overall). Banda spent a few years in the system before being traded to the Diamondbacks along with Mitch Haniger for Gerardo Parra at the 2014 deadline (I guess they really wanted him).

Banda eventually made his MLB debut with the Diamondbacks in 2017. In parts of eight MLB seasons with the D-Backs, Rays, Mets, Pirates, Blue Jays, Yankees, Nationals and Dodgers, Banda has made 138 career appearances (eight starts). with an ERA of 4.92 and 159 strikeouts to 168 ¹⁄₃ innings. This season was the best of his career as he had a 3.08 ERA with 50 strikeouts over 49 ²⁄₃ Innings with LA He has allowed one run over five in six postseason appearances ²⁄₃ innings (1.59 ERA) with seven strikeouts.

Gavin Lux

Lux is the only player from Wisconsin in this year's World Series. He is a native of Kenosha, where he played high school baseball at Indian Trail before being drafted 20th overall by the Dodgers in 2016. Lux hit .560 with six home runs and 46 runs scored and 23 steals his senior season, eventually winning a slew of awards including being named a MaxPreps All-American and Wisconsin's Gatorade Player of the Year.

Although he has not yet reached his full potential, at the age of 26 he has already played five MLB seasons, hitting .252/.326/.383 (96 OPS+) with 28 home runs, 155 RBIs, 19 steals and 194 runs over Batted 412 career games. He led the NL with seven triples in 2022 while appearing all over the field despite serving as LA's primary second baseman. In 139 games this season, Lux had an above-average offensive year, hitting .251/.320/.383 (101 OPS+) with a career-high 10 home runs, 50 RBIs, five steals and 59 runs batted in. Lux is considered the starting second baseman for most of the World Series, as he hit .208/.259/.333 with one home run, three RBIs, four runs and five hits over 24 at-bats this postseason.