Pat Murphy’s Brewers Report Card: The Regret He Can’t Escape

Postseason Managerial Report Card: Pat Murphy

As I'm quite certain you're aware if you're reading this article on FanGraphs.com, the Milwaukee Brewers just won their first World Series championship in franchise history.

They didn't limp their way to the alcohol showers either, winning 103 games during the regular season before an 11-2 playoff run that never felt as if they were in serious jeopardy.

When you've already snatched up the full scholarship to an elite school, it probably doesn't matter whether you got an A or a B in your senior year electives.

But as Mr. Barr reminded me when he gave me a D in English in my final quarter of high school, something which I managed to conceal from my mom for 20 years, there are still report cards to fill out.

Grading the manager of a team that dominated in the playoffs is always a bit tricky to pull off.

After all, whether moves were good ideas or poor ones, they mostly worked out, or the Brewers wouldn't have dominated so consistently.

But we evaluate the process here, not just the results, and hopefully I have just the right combination of objectivity and natural unlikability to grade Brewers manager Pat Murphy fairly.

BATTING: A

As someone who likes picking apart things, I'm mildly disappointed that I don't really have many gripes here.

The truth is, a manager in baseball does not have the same level of tactical influence over the game as, say, an NFL head coach does.

Baseball is largely a game of execution and chance, and while many decisions have an impact, there are limits, on both the good and bad sides, to just how much a manager can affect the outcome.

A lot of a manager's job is simply getting the right players on the field, and as Casey Stengel noted, "keep[ing] the five guys who hate you away from the four guys who haven't made up their minds."

From an overall standpoint of getting his preferred players on the field, Murphy did a very good job.

One thing I respect a lot is how Murphy trusted his players in their roles, while also not being afraid to bench a player.

Even with Christian Yelich having a lousy season, a lot of managers likely would have had trouble leaving him, a veteran with a lot of cachet in Milwaukee who was named as the team's first official captain in history, out of the lineup against unfavorable starting pitcher matchups.

Even more would have had trouble doing it without it causing any kind of controversy.

That's a hard thing to do without significant buy-in from your players.

While Murphy's batting-grade section in the original FanGraphs report continues with further analysis of his lineup construction, platoon management, and pinch-hitting decisions throughout the postseason, the core takeaway is that evaluators found very little to criticize in how he handled the offensive side of the game.

The Brewers scored enough runs to win 103 games and then 11 more in October.

That kind of production doesn't happen by accident, and Murphy's willingness to sit a struggling star like Yelich when matchups demanded it showed a level of managerial nerve that often separates good postseason managers from great ones.

PITCHING: A-

This grade requires more nuance.

Murphy's handling of the pitching staff was generally excellent, but there were moments where the process raised questions even though the results held up.

The Brewers' bullpen was a strength throughout the season, and Murphy showed a consistent ability to match relievers to situations rather than sticking to rigid roles.

He avoided the trap that catches many managers in October: leaving a starter in too long because of past reputation, or burning through your best relievers too early in a series.

However, there were a few instances where Murphy's reliance on certain relievers in high-leverage spots seemed to defy the underlying numbers.

When a pitcher has been getting lucky with batted-ball outcomes for weeks, a manager who keeps going back to him in close games is making a bet that the luck will hold.

In Murphy's case, that bet paid off.

But the process of betting on unsustainable performance is still a risk, even when it works.

The FanGraphs report notes that Murphy's bullpen usage was creative and generally well-timed, but the margin for error in the playoffs is razor-thin, and one or two wrong matchups could have changed the entire narrative.

IN-GAME DECISIONS: B+

This is where the report card gets interesting.

Murphy's in-game tactical decisions were solid but not flawless.

He showed a good feel for when to steal, when to bunt, and when to let his hitters swing away.

His defensive alignments were generally well-conceived, and he made several defensive substitutions late in games that saved runs.

But there were a couple of decision points that evaluators flagged.

One involved a bunt attempt in a high-scoring game where the run-expectancy models strongly favored letting the hitter swing.

Murphy chose the bunt, and it worked out.

But the process of bunting in a situation where the expected run value favors swinging is a decision that grade-sheet evaluators will note, even when the result is positive.

Another area where Murphy's grade slipped slightly was in his challenge usage.

He missed a few opportunities to challenge calls that replay showed would have been overturned, and he burned a challenge early in one game on a low-leverage play that left him without one later when a more important call went against his team.

These are small things.

In a 162-game season, they might not matter at all.

In a playoff series where every out counts, they are the difference between an A and a B+.

CLUBHOUSE MANAGEMENT: A

This is arguably Murphy's strongest category.

The Brewers were a team that could have fractured.

Christian Yelich, the team captain and a former MVP, was having a terrible season.

Veteran players who were used to playing every day found themselves on the bench against certain pitchers.

Young players were thrust into high-leverage postseason spots.

And through all of it, there was no public dissent, no leaked complaints to the media, no visible frustration from players who had every reason to be frustrated.

That doesn't happen by accident.

Murphy's ability to keep a roster of 26 competitive, highly paid athletes pulling in the same direction is a skill that doesn't show up in box scores but is arguably more important than any single tactical decision he made all season.

The FanGraphs report highlights how Murphy earned buy-in from his players by being consistent, honest, and willing to make tough decisions without playing favorites.

When he benched Yelich, he did it in a way that preserved the veteran's dignity and kept him engaged as a teammate.

When he went to a young reliever in a big spot, he made sure that pitcher felt supported rather than exposed.

That kind of leadership is hard to quantify, but it shows up in how a team responds to adversity.

The Brewers faced very little adversity in their playoff run, but when they did, they didn't panic.

That is a reflection of the manager.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Pat Murphy became a major league manager for the first time at age 65.

That is late by any standard.

He had an earlier chance to become a manager after the 2019 season, when the New York Mets shortlisted him as a final candidate.

Murphy went through three rounds of interviews with the Mets.

Speaking on "The Show" podcast with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Murphy recalled just how thorough the process was.

"I mean, literally, I was sitting there at one point in a round table, they showed video of a game, and then they would stop it," Murphy said.

"And I was armed with all the information, who was available in the game, what the game score was, what the situation was."

"I had the game card in front of me, and they were giving me situations."

"What would you do? You know, think about this. What are your considerations here?"

"Then another portion of it was doing a mock press conference, and then it was doing a mock postgame."

"And they brought in employees from the Mets to sit in the crowd."

"And Jessica Mendoza was one of them."

"And we laughed about it this week."