Brewers Video
After a series loss in San Francisco disappointing as much because of how it happened as because it happened at all, Pat Murphy held a closed-door meeting to convey his displeasure with the defensive dysfunction on display. On Saturday, after a poor start seemed to be dooming them to a blowout loss, Murphy removed Sal Frelick (who missed the cutoff man and gave away a base an inning earlier) and Caleb Durbin (who was picked off in an airheaded baserunning gaffe shortly afterward). Those are the most visible ways in which he's leaning on his levers and demanding more of his team, but there are others happening, too.
In six games so far this week, Murphy has started Vinny Capra over Joey Ortiz at shortstop once, and pinch-hit for Ortiz with Jake Bauers twice. He knows Capra (whose struggles at the plate have become so profound that it's hard to justify keeping him on the roster any longer) is no replacement for Ortiz, and that Andruw Monasterio is doing nothing at Triple-A Nashville to inspire confidence in him as a stopgap. Thus, Murphy is getting creative: he tried to get Ortiz a mental health day, but he's also started putting in place some measures to reduce the harm done to the lineup by Ortiz's disastrous offensive start.
The front office is doing its best to work with Murphy to remedy the various problems popping up all over the roster, as we saw when Bryan Hudson was optioned to the minors this week. The transactional solutions mostly have to wait until June or July, though, and Murphy knows that his team can't wait that long. He also knows that this is not the most talented team in the National League Central, let alone the league as a whole. For the last two years, they have won by playing sharper, smarter, more team-oriented baseball than their rivals. Murphy has taken proactive steps this month, because he knows that they'll have to rediscover those traits if they want to claim a third straight division crown.
Barring a trade or a waiver claim in the immediate future, expect more of this. Murphy might even get more aggressive with Ortiz, pinch-hitting Bauers earlier if the situation demands it. If Frelick, Durbin and the rest of the team don't have an adequate response to the unsubtle messages he's sending them through stern meetings and disciplinary benchings, it won't matter. The problematic part of getting this active this early is that it amounts to a big bet—a season-defining one, in fact—on those players hearing Murphy; believing he still has their best interests at heart and is worthy of their respect and trust; and making concrete changes to their processes of preparation and situational awareness in response to him.
Most modern managers take pride in holding very few closed-door meetings, or in handling all questions of effort or focus far from the media's view. Most managers try to wait as long as possible before making any major shakeup to the lineup, the rotation, the bullpen, or the tone they strike in the clubhouse. Murphy never swore an oath to that style. Even last year, he let the legendary college coach come out on occasion, diving deeper into details of the game than most big-league skippers do and holding players to a more rigid standard than some do. It was the perfect way to handle that particular team.
This year's team is subtly different than that one, though, and perhaps crucially so. Murphy sees some talent deficits and believes fervently that they can be made up by a team playing disciplined, relentless baseball. So far, he doesn't see his team playing that way, so he's applying pressure and demanding that that change. It's the right thing to do—but that doesn't make it any less worrisome to ponder what happens if his demands aren't met.
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