Pat Murphy is Getting His Chance to Apply Everything He's Learned

[Jack Stern]

Pat Murphy says his time as a bench coach gave him the perspective he needed to manage. If he applies what he learned over that time, he could be just the skipper this Brewers team needs. If he doesn't, his first season could feature more bumps.

Image courtesy of © Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Pat Murphy has a reputation as a hard-nosed, old-school baseball guy. He disputes that characterization.

“I am old,” he quipped. “I’ve been in baseball forever. I don’t like being called a baseball guy, necessarily.”

Murphy developed that reputation during his 21 years as a collegiate head coach. It’s a stark contrast from his predecessor Craig Counsell, whom many view as one of the best new-school managers in baseball.

The Brewers’ new skipper insists he is not the same coach he once was. Years of experience, including an eight-season tenure as Counsell’s bench coach, have helped him evolve.

“I’ve learned a lot standing where I was for the past eight years,” he said last week. “I’ve had my eyes wide open, as they say.”

That learning experience was necessary before he landed his first full-time managerial gig at age 65, Murphy says.

“I would have struggled if I was given this opportunity as a younger man.”

Murphy has acquired a broadened perspective over the years, both in terms of on-field strategy and his overall mindset.

“Your ego gets challenged in this deal all the time,” he explained. “When you’re younger, you’re trying to prove yourself, and you’re trying to be known or let people know how great you are. It’s so stupid.”

As spring training has progressed, it’s become clear that this version of Murphy is not the same as his past iterations.

Murphy has not tried to prove anything. He has commanded respect with a distinctive blend of humor, calling things as he sees them, and thoughtful baseball insight. No one ever quite knows what Murphy will say about anything on any given day, but they know it will be authentic.

Regarding game management, Murphy’s job is not about following a particular school of thought; it’s about making the best decisions. He strives to combine the observations of his experienced eye with information to lead his players and best position his team for success.

Murphy doesn’t base his approach on old-school cliches. He arrives at most of his conclusions by thinking critically about the game's intricacies as they apply to the situation before him.

Instead of committing to straight platoons in the lineup as Counsell did ahead of him, Murphy explained that he approaches matchups based on how hitters fare against specific pitch shapes and locations. This is arguably a more analytical approach than one that adheres to opposite-handed matchups for hitters whenever possible. It weighs more information.

As he shapes his bullpen without an injured Devin Williams, Murphy would rather not name a new closer. He prefers the strategic advantage of having his best arms available for the highest-leverage moments and weighs as many factors as possible to determine when those moments are.

Murphy’s thinking is neither old-school nor new-school. It’s just thoughtful.

That thinking won’t always lead him to a conclusion that matches statistical reality. In those instances, Murphy is not afraid to be challenged by information. He welcomes dissenting analysis from an analytical front office.

“I use their information,” he said. “I want their opinion. They’re studying it from their angle, over and over and over. You’re crazy not to use [the information].”

Murphy trusts his eyes from the dugout but knows they aren’t always accurate.

“Oftentimes, I think I see something, but maybe I don’t. All the data and the information measures all of it, so that data is crucial to know.”

Murphy says he’ll make in-game decisions, but the preparation process features collaboration with the front office.

“We get together, and we make a decision. [For the] final decision, I’m the one walking up the steps saying, ‘You’re out, you’re in.’”

Murphy's knack for critical thinking is encouraging, but the potential concern is whether he’ll apply it consistently.

Like any manager, Murphy has biases, and some of his conclusions about specific players appear more grounded in perception than substantive analysis.

Murphy believes second baseman Brice Turang will take a “quantum leap” in his sophomore season but did not offer concrete observations to support that assertion. Instead, he pointed to Turang’s competitive nature and praised him for working hard over the offseason to get stronger.

Turang tied for the second-worst wRC+ among players with at least 400 plate appearances and the lowest run value against four-seam fastballs last year. A strong work ethic and competitive drive are valuable traits, but Turang can’t will his barrel into connecting with more fastballs. His offense was a liability last year. Achieving the magnitude of improvement needed to make him a useful everyday player requires tangible adjustments.

Similarly, Murphy repeatedly expressed his belief that Joe Ross fits best on a big-league staff as a starting pitcher, saying that he has seen him settle into games as a starter in the past.

Ross made eight starts in 2012 with the Short-Season Class A Eugene Emeralds, whom Murphy managed that summer while working in the San Diego Padres organization.

The present-day reality is that even if Ross is attempting to throw four pitches, he only has two playable ones. He hasn’t been a league-average starting pitcher since 2021 and owns a 4.78 ERA since the start of 2017 after a pair of encouraging seasons to begin his career.

Ross has some potential as a reliever. His sinker-slider mix played up in short stints last year when he returned from Tommy John surgery for a handful of minor-league appearances. It’s much more challenging to look at his metrics and makeup and declare him a bona fide MLB starter.

Murphy gravitates toward competitors. While not inherently detrimental, it can become problematic if he favors it over the objective realities of a player’s on-field performance.

His eyes may tell him that Turang and Ross are competitors who will find a way to produce, but Murphy cannot use that as his primary criterion for making decisions. Organizations possess more resources than ever to project, track, and evaluate player performance. While a trained baseball eye can pick up on things the numbers overlook, the metrics are almost always a more reliable foundation for analysis.

Murphy is not a fully old-school manager, but it seems his eye still emphasizes the nose-to-the-grindstone player whose perceived value doesn't hold up under modern measurements. If he lets that bias drive too many of his decisions, his inaugural season as manager could be bumpy. If he puts into practice what he has learned over the years, he might be precisely the skipper this team needs.

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[Ro Mueller]

I fear he’s been dealt a bad hand, like Hodgson at Liverpool. You lose Woodruff, Burnes, Devin for half a season, Miley for a few weeks…

He’s gotta avoid a disastrous first 6 weeks, which is a scenario which can’t be ignored with this much change - see Packers 1984.

I wish Mark would do right by Murph and add one more impact player, helping the club and injecting some energy/confidence for the first month.

 

[Rick Daltons Flamethrower]

Really enjoying the energy of Pat Murphy. He seems so comfortable in the role and who he is as a human. This has been a breath of fresh air with his leadership just beginning to blossom. Good things on the horizon with him in the helm. 

[Ron750]

Who would have predicted that the Brewers would be in first place, 13 games above .500, on June 18? And the Cubs are in last place, 8.5 games out? Thank you Craig.