“This is a Game About People”: How an Emphasis on Character Led Brewers to Success in 2024

[Jake McKibbin]

In an era of analytics and careful player evaluation, it’s easy to forget that the beauty of team sports is not in their individual strengths, but how the players function as a collective. The Brewers' emphasis on unity has allowed them to zig when others zag, and led them to yet another NL Central title.

Image courtesy of © Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Baseball as a sport, although it is a team sport, is encapsulated by the individual battles: pitcher vs. hitter. Mano a mano, from 60 feet, 6 inches. As a result, it’s easy to overlook one of the most important functions of any team sport, which is the psychological support players and staff provide one another and the effects that can have on the team. 

This isn’t merely consolation when outings go wrong or collaboration on gameplans. It lies in leading by example, “passing the baton” (a phrase frequently voiced this season), and trusting one another to make plays. The Brewers had 13 players on their Opening Day roster for whom such an achievement was a novel experience.

They traded away their biggest star, in Corbin Burnes. They cut their budget. They lost a manager regarded as one of the best in baseball. Brandon Woodruff didn’t play a single game this season. Wade Miley was ruled out of the season before April closed. Christian Yelich missed significant periods of time, and will miss the playoffs. Robert Gasser started five games. Devin Williams didn’t pitch until after the All-Star break.

It’s been blow after blow in 2024, for a Brewers team that has used 58 different players throughout the season and lost their so-called star players for significant portions of it. On top of that, there is an explosion of youth, with the roster predominantly made up of players in their first or second years in the major leagues--guys who have a lot to learn about what makes a successful big-league team. How on Earth did this team become the first to seal a place in the postseason?

It Starts From The Top
The players in that clubhouse latched onto their manager's ideologies, and created a steadfast stubbornness that has allowed them to win game after game against supposedly more talented, higher-paid opposition. Pat Murphy has been at the center of the Brewers' success this year, with his interpersonal management of the players a driving force in the consistency of the performances they’ve put in this year.

One of the most fascinating domains of Murphy’s management has been how he upends conventional wisdom, and even common sense at times, to focus on winning today and letting tomorrow take care of itself. There have been times at the start of the season (and even more recently, with Devin Williams) where Murphy has maybe overused his high-leverage bullpen. It hasn’t always worked, but in doing so, he has walked the walk of “winning today.” There is a debate around the viability of this approach, but that debate should include the permeation of Murphy’s stubbornness into his players' approach and how integral that may be in their success.

Murphy has been the perfect manager for this crop of Brewers players, running the tightrope between an intense, demanding approach and a more laid-back nature that can bring the best out of his players even when things get tough.

Quote

A lot of the winning teams you’ve been on have some sort of that type of formula, where you have a few guys that have some sort of experience about what it’s like to play really meaningful games late in the season, what it’s like to play in October. Obviously, all of that comes on the field with that, but also everything else that this game can bring with those types of expectations and those types of games. It’s just being another cog in the whole formula, really.

-Rhys Hoskins

The leadership core in the Brewers clubhouse has been shaped to perfection. Although there aren’t a large number of “veterans," the leaders within the team bring a lot to the table. Willy Adames, William Contreras, Christian Yelich, and Rhys Hoskins all lead by example on the field and off it, with a strong work ethic and understanding of how to navigate the ups and downs of a baseball season. They all have playoff experience. They all have that hard, tough mentality to withstand the rigors of a full season.

For players like Brice Turang, Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell, Jackson Chourio, Blake Perkins, Tobias Myers and more, who are still learning every day, that is an invaluable barometer to measure themselves against. Not necessarily in on-field performance, but in whether they are preparing themselves correctly for each game.

Each of those leaders mentioned has the toughness, fortitude and sheer desire to play that can be infectious amongst younger players, and you cannot overlook the effect that has had on the Brewers' success this season.

The Abrasive Mentality Of The Young Crop
An interesting commonality among young hitters like Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell, Brice Turang; bullpen arms like Bryan Hudson, Trevor Megill, Joel Payamps; and rotation pieces like Tobias Myers and Colin Rea is the failures they’ve gone through. Each of those pitchers has been designated for assignment in the past, while there has been criticism of Frelick, Turang and Mitchell throughout the year--and even in prior years. 

Quote

These guys don’t know what their best is, and didn’t know what their best is and still don’t. But they know one thing – pulling together, competing, being doubted is something that can vault you forward into a championship.

-Pat Murphy

Mitchell dropped in draft pecking orders due his Type 1 diabetes. Rea and Myers have been through multiple organizations and felt the full weight of the doubt Murphy is referencing. They're certainly not the only ones. Doing so creates a steeliness, an edge, a relentless desire to prove and improve. Fortitude like that is just different, and it creates an intensity that shows up in each and every opportunity on the field. There are no days off, no plate appearances off. 

A popular colloquialism says form is temporary, but class is permanent. In a season of 162 games, there are going to be highs and lows to navigate--stretches of good form, and then the absence of it. Fortune will evade you at times. Yet, day in and day out, the Brewers have mirrored their manager and his “win today” mantra by competing for every possible inch on that field, for every out and every plate appearance. In doing so, they have won baseball games.

They are the only team (through 152 games) that has yet to lose four games in a row. The Brewers' refusal to break when the season bends them has brought them to the position they’re in now, with the best run differential in baseball. They're competing for a first-round playoff bye against the star-studded behemoths that are the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. At what point does the world simply acknowledge that this is a team of the same quality as those?

The Identity Of Struggling Hard Flows Through The Brewers Organization

Quote

Yeah, I think it’s kind of what we’ve built here. And it doesn’t happen overnight. It doesn’t take one year or two years for that to become your identity as an organization, or the team. It takes a lot of talented people. It takes a lot of the right people. It takes a lot of consistency, from ownership on down, throughout the organization.

-Christian Yelich on the Brewer’s success

Yelich is right: Making a clubhouse that demands hard work while also providing the freedom to express oneself on the field and off it is no easy task. Every new member of that team can see the extra reps in the batting cage, the weight rooms, the pre-game preparation going on and know exactly what’s required at the major-league level to be successful, and I’m sure it’s a culture that many organizations are envious of.

Jackson Chourio is the perfect example. Murphy talked earlier in the season about him learning how to prepare for games, how to put himself in the best spot in big situations to be successful. Confidence comes as much from how prepared you are in a given moment as it does from your abilities, and Chourio has gone from a player looking bereft of belief to calling his own grand slams. The transformation in performance is more than just his early season treatment and learning off the field, but they have allowed him to make those adjustments more expeditiously than the consensus expected.

He's not the only one finding a comfort level and work ethic that have facilitated a breakout. Garrett Mitchell is starting to make contact (and some good contact) against high four-seam fastballs. Myers and trade acquisitions Aaron Civale and Frankie Montas have adjusted their pitch mixes to attain strong results down the stretch. Rea smoothed his delivery mechanics for extra velocity. When players join this organization, they improve, time and time again--regardless of age, experience or weakness. It's because of this that the Milwaukee Brewers are a far more frightening prospect in the playoffs now than they appeared at the start of the season.

What Difference Does Character Make Against Sheer Skill?
When you have every single player taking those extra steps, the 1% here and there accumulates into something tangible and cohesive, and you can see that the Brewers as a whole are producing more than the sum of their parts. In baseball, that becomes incredibly important, given the length of the season. You have, in theory, 4,374 outs to get defensively and play with offensively. People will be more focused on some occasions than others. That’s an unavoidable reality of the human mind. But the Brewers have defied this better than most, with a pinpoint focus on the here and now.

This is not to say the Brewers are bereft of talent, but the talent the Brewers prize more than most teams is significantly underrated. The ability to work hard and grind is not something everyone possesses. The ability to knuckle down and fight when a game is going wrong in every conceivable way matters. As human beings, every day is different, and monotonizing each at-bat with a clear approach takes a lot of hard work--and more importantly, focus. This Brewers team simply does not take a plate appearance off, approaching each in-game situation with a relentless tenacity that can be overwhelming for opponents.

Can This Continue To Show Up In The Playoffs?

Quote

For us, it’s in games that we execute and we do the little things right, we play a clean game, we’re really tough to beat.

-Yelich

This Brewers outfit will scratch, claw and fight for every single moment in a game. The scales of that may even out somewhat as the focus intensifies for everyone in the bright lights of October. Still, the Brewers have demonstrated that as a unit, both in the variety of hitting profiles and variety of arms they can go through to get 27 outs, they have the quality and big-game temperament to make some real noise on the biggest stage.

Every truly successful team has a point of difference. In the variety the Brewers have amassed on both sides of the ball, they may just have their point of difference. They're not going to be outworked or outhustled in the playoffs. There won't be any semblance of "could we have given more?" That's not how this team operates, and that relentless desire to win at all costs is highly intimidating for any opposition. When things get tough and tight on the field, they have the characters in their clubhouse to fight back. It's in their DNA.

Going deep in the playoffs will require a little luck, a lot of fortitude, and timely execution. However, with the power of the collective, the Brewers have embraced they have every chance to do it. To quote Pat Murphy just once more:

“Why can’t they just keep going?”

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[biedergb]

This is a very interesting read from an outsider's perspective (Pittsburgh), and really brings home how lucky we are to have had Attanasio and the Stearns now Arnold GM guidance. In case you miss it, the Brewers play in a smaller market than Pittsburgh, not sure if the write mentions that 😉

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/joe-starkey/2024/09/19/pirates-brewers-national-league-central-ben-cherington-derek-shelton/stories/202409170093

 

We are lucky fans to watch this team during a 18 year or so run of success with playoffs, division champs and some amazing all star / MVP (Braun, Fielder, Weeks leading to Yelich and Adames, then Burnes/Woodruff/Peralta, and now Contreras and Chourio).

By the way the Brewers play in a smaller market than Pittsburgh 😅

[Underachiever]

13 hours ago, biedergb said:

By the way the Brewers play in a smaller market than Pittsburgh 😅

*Citation needed.

[BillMilton]

Settle down.

The attainable goal should be to win the division every year. That should be defined as success.

As to playoffs: The team cannot win two or three series against teams with better talent/higher payroll. Playoff results are not *fully* random.

This year the division was mediocre, but usually there is a team or two presenting a challenge to the Brewers. That will be the case next year and thereafter.

[Jake McKibbin]

2 hours ago, BillMilton said:

Settle down.

The attainable goal should be to win the division every year. That should be defined as success.

As to playoffs: The team cannot win two or three series against teams with better talent/higher payroll. Playoff results are not *fully* random.

This year the division was mediocre, but usually there is a team or two presenting a challenge to the Brewers. That will be the case next year and thereafter.

 

Of course it won't be luck, I completely agree. But on that note, what makes you think they're incapable of such series wins based on their ability? Especially having taken a series against the Phillies top three arms

[Samurai Bucky]

3 hours ago, Underachiever said:

*Citation needed.

https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/nba-market-size-nfl-mlb-nhl-nielsen-ratings/

[Samurai Bucky]

This is an excellent piece.  In the modern day of Statcast and fantasy baseball, there are no categories for hard work, and desire.  You might see a result of those attributes, but when people are looking to make trades, the "hard work" coefficient cannot be taken into account.

There is also something to be said for your teammates having your back.  The "family" type of environment that exists -- even when Counsell was the manager -- allows players to feel more comfortable.

I think Murphy has allowed the players to have input into what is going on with the team.  Look at Willie for example.  We know that Murphy wanted to sit him earlier in the year.  Willie asked that he be able to play and Murphy put him back in the lineup.  Many people disagreed including those on this board that called Murphy a bad manager for allowing this.  Fortunately, it worked out.  The point is that Murphy isn't necessarily a dictator allowing the players to have a say.  I hope they win the whole thing...

[biedergb]

3 hours ago, Underachiever said:

*Citation needed.

*Technically it is Joe Starkey. (https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/joe-starkey/2024/09/19/pirates-brewers-national-league-central-ben-cherington-derek-shelton/stories/202409170093)

Well if it is true or not, the author of the article made that reference multiple times in the article, so that's why I included it twice n my post.

( I guess I was trying to be funny - I will learn to stick with my day job 😔 )

[Underachiever]

58 minutes ago, biedergb said:

*Technically it is Joe Starkey. (https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/joe-starkey/2024/09/19/pirates-brewers-national-league-central-ben-cherington-derek-shelton/stories/202409170093)

Well if it is true or not, the author of the article made that reference multiple times in the article, so that's why I included it twice n my post.

( I guess I was trying to be funny - I will learn to stick with my day job 😔 )

I was being totally sarcastic. I read the article. 

 

[biedergb]

2 hours ago, Underachiever said:

I was being totally sarcastic. I read the article. 

 

Need sarcasm font for me next time ;)

I am a little slow