Will Pat Murphy's Exacting Managerial Style Have Its Intended Effect on Milwaukee Brewers?

Pat Murphy has been treating every game like it's the postseason, even though the calendar just flipped to May. He's removed players mid-game for disciplinary and tactical reasons, used quick hooks for his starters, and been aggressive with his top bullpen arms. Last week, he pulled Tobias Myers after two innings of work, then pulled Tyler Alexander (who is stretched out) after just 26 pitches following Myers's short outing. He yanked Sal Frelick and Caleb Durbin for fielding errors and mistakes on the basepaths in St. Louis in the final weekend of April. Elvin Rodriguez was promoted to give length to the bullpen before the Cubs series, only to be used for a mere one inning while four runs behind. Murphy, instead, used his "A" bullpen of Grant Anderson, Nick Mears, and Abner Uribe whenever it counted.

The skipper showcased the same managerial proclivities last season out of the gates, heavily using Bryan Hudson and taxing his bullpen in April. It gave the team a head start in last year's division race, although perhaps it had knock-on effects down the line—especially in the case of Hudson. It's a strategy that's drawn some criticism, and rightfully so, but Murphy may have a viable reason for managing in this manner.

The simple fact is, this Brewers' roster didn't win 92 games based on the talent of the squad on paper. They won games by winning little battles, being faultless in the field, putting balls in play, and being effective with runners in scoring position. They were elite in close games, grinding out at-bats, causing chaos on the basepaths, and wearing down the opposition to create a moment they could capitalize on.

Murphy repeated his mantra over and over: "Win tonight." He demanded that his players be engaged in the moment-by-moment, play-by-play occurrences on the field, with the sole focus of winning. They didn't throw the towel in. He wouldn't let them. They fought tooth-and-nail in all scenarios, never getting too high or too low.

The problem in 2025 is that they haven't been able to match that standard. Perhaps they've missed the everyday presences and resilience shown by Willy Adames and William Contreras to begin last season; Adames set an excellent example of the sturdiness required in Major League Baseball. Perhaps they've struggled to regain that mindset. Perhaps it's a crisis of confidence. Either way, the Brewers don't seem to have that same spark.

They're making errors in the field. They're passive at the plate. They're getting picked off. The big names haven't caught fire. The back end of the bullpen has been shaky. It's been the antithesis to their 2023 and 2024 performances so far, despite flashes of that form.

So what does Murphy do? He leads from the front. If he's to demand the players focus on winning today, he has to do the same. Why did Murphy use his "A" bullpen down four runs against Chicago? Why did he pull a wayward Myers, and then use him in a between-starts relief stint? He wanted to win. he needed to win. 

Before all else, Murphy is a competitor. He thrives on competition, yearns for it. He knows what these players are capable of, and if he can get them focused back on the minutiae from one play to another (rather than the overall picture of how things aren't falling their way), then perhaps he can get the train back on track toward yet another successful season.

He sees himself as a leader of this group, someone with enough wisdom to set the standards—and with enough gravitas that people will follow him. On both scores, he's correct, as best we can tell so far. It's also undoubtedly true that leading by example is far more effective than instructing people to "do what I say, not what I do."

I'm not saying Murphy is entirely correct in doing so. Craig Counsell certainly managed things differently. However, there is some logic to his decision to manage so aggressively at times in the season. Whether this can be used to turn the Brewers' early fortunes around will go a long way toward assessing whether Murphy's tactics were correct or not. The line between madness and genius is oh-so thin.