Pat Murphy Named National League Manager of the Year for Second Straight Season

[Jack Stern]

Image courtesy of © David Banks-Imagn Images

Pat Murphy has now taken home hardware in each of his first two campaigns leading the Brewers, as the Baseball Writers' Association of America named him the National League Manager of the Year for the second straight season on Tuesday night. Murphy received 27 of 30 first-place votes.

The 66-year-old became the third manager to win the award in consecutive seasons in either league, joining former Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox and Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash. Stephen Vogt, a repeat winner in the American League, joined him a few minutes later as the fourth.

Murphy downplayed the recognition a year ago, deferring praise to his players and coaching staff. He struck the same tone in a conference call on Tuesday night.

"I think there's a lot of other coaches on our staff that do it better than I do," Murphy said. "I think I get far too much credit for things like this, you know what I mean? Players win games."

Because it's impossible to accurately quantify a manager's role in his team's success, the award effectively credits club-wide efforts to one person. The skipper of a team that overcomes adversity or outperforms external projections is often in line for votes. The Brewers have checked those boxes the last two seasons, going 93-69 in 2024 and a franchise-best 97-65 this year, winning the NL Central over the much bigger-spending Chicago Cubs both years.

"We had the right who," Murphy said. "We had guys that are aware and hungry, and that makes the manager look good at the end of the day."

Even so, Murphy has been integral in setting the tone for those players with his handling of interpersonal relationships inside the clubhouse. From that standpoint, he may be even more deserving of the award this time around.

The Brewers didn't just improve on their previous season; they did so after a 21-25 start that had them in fourth place in the division on May 17. Murphy, who has often applied elements of an aggressive management style from his college coaching days to the big leagues, benched players on a few occasions for poor fundamental play and called multiple team meetings. He also publicly stated that the group had "misplaced [its] edge" and challenged his players to perform more competitively.

The turnaround did not come immediately, and Murphy's efforts to correct course could have alienated players if not executed properly. Ultimately, though, the Brewers responded. Milwaukee went 76-40 through the rest of the regular season, securing baseball's best record, winning the division by five games, and advancing to the NLCS for the first time since 2018.

"I think this year, the way we started—as opposed to [2024], we started so hot, and things were clicking—[2025] didn't start like that," Murphy recalled. "There were so many injuries and so many question marks, and so many guys searching for their best self. I think what clicks is the resiliency they had and the desire they had to get on it as quickly as possible."

The Brewers' run ended unceremoniously when they ran out of steam against the Los Angeles Dodgers in an NLCS sweep. That came, in part, because Murphy and the staff allowed players to assume heavy workloads during the regular season. That's the sometimes detrimental product of his "Win Tonight" mentality, which can be a double-edged sword for a scrappy roster. Striking the proper balance between managing for tonight and for future wins remains an area for improvement moving forward, but it's hard to quibble with the results under Murphy's leadership.

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[Brian]

I was happy about everything this year until the Dodger series. The Brewers played that series like the whole team had COVID. 

[Trax]

Well deserved.  We have a great manager, great field staff, great front office, and as good an owner any team has.  What we don't have is a fair playing field.

[Jim French Stepstool]

Maybe it's petty, I dunno. But part of me loves The Brewers finishing ahead of Counsell both years after he left, with back-to-back MOTY hardware for the guy who more than replaced him.

[Brian]

Also,  Matt Arnold Named 2025 MLB Executive Of The Year.  Arnold Becomes the First Two-Time Winner of the Award.  Now we just need a richer owner to really make it work well.