Pat Murphy and the Brewers Are Trying to Avoid Complacency

Sunday afternoon’s series finale against the Cardinals marked the Brewers’ 40th game and the near quarter-mark of the 2024 season. With that in mind, Pat Murphy was asked the following afternoon for his thoughts on his club’s performance so far.

“I’ve had a good time,” he quipped.

There have been more good times than bad for the Brewers, who lead the National League Central with a 24-17 record despite a rash of injuries to key players. However, Murphy quickly elaborated that having a good time doesn’t mean he is fully satisfied with his team.

“I’m just worried about us getting better. We have to get better.”

The MLB regular season is the longest and arguably the most intense schedule in professional sports. Noise and distractions of all kinds are prominent throughout a 162-game season. Players and teams have hot and cold streaks regardless of their talent level.

“You can’t listen to a lot of it,” Murphy said, referring to outside commentary, the performance of other teams and players, and even the standings in one’s division. “We got a job to do, and we know the reality of it. You can’t coast uphill. We got an uphill battle.”

Despite the Brewers making clear that their counterbuilding approach carries the goal of competing every year, many pundits and projection systems characterized this season as a retooling year due to their perceptions of the roster. The Brewers always planned to be playoff contenders, though. With that goal comes lofty expectations for a young roster and accountability when they fall short.

Results in baseball are fickle in small samples, and many elements of the game lie outside a player or coach’s control. The best way to evaluate and grow is by focusing on what one can control. Pitchers can control pitch selection and execution. Hitters have autonomy over their swing decisions. All players control whether they are mentally engaged with the game and playing smart baseball.

Doing those things well will not always lead to success in small samples, but it almost always yields results in the long run, assuming the necessary talent is present. The Brewers have the talent. The coaches and players share the responsibility of ensuring it shines by focusing on controlling what they can control. That means acknowledging what they did right and wrong each night, regardless of the outcome.

“The process is the deal,” Murphy said. “We want to win, but if you do the process continually over and over, and you’re mindful of it, you’re continuing to improve your awareness and the responsibility of being ready for that pitch. If you’re constantly doing that, you’re gonna win more times than not, possibly. It’s the best way to ensure [winning].”

Because he focuses on process over results, Murphy still sees room for improvement despite his club’s .585 winning percentage. The Brewers took three out of four games from the Cardinals, but Murphy bluntly noted what he perceived as a lack of relentlessness in the series finale. After the offense worked Miles Mikolas for more than 40 pitches in a three-run first inning, he settled in to throw six innings as St. Louis mounted a comeback.

“43 pitches in the first inning against a veteran pitcher, up three to nothing, and 55 in the next five, that’s not relentless. Don’t do that,” Murphy said.

In light of that message, perhaps it was no coincidence that the offense looked relentless in an eventful loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night. Mitch Keller consistently dotted the edges during his six scoreless innings, but the Brewers still applied consistent pressure with eight hits. They then brought the deficit to one run in consecutive innings against Pittsburgh’s bullpen, the second time on a grand slam by Jake Bauers in the eighth.

Murphy’s postgame comments perhaps best encapsulated how he and his coaching staff are trying to guide this team. They see potential for this group to do special things, but getting there will require hard work and accountability.

“The way they battle, that’s just a sign. We did a lot of things not so good, but we had an opportunity to win the game… That’s why you love this team.”