Peralta goes over events that led to the Brewers dropping NLDS game 4 to the Cubs
Pitcher Freddy Peralta goes over events that led to the Brewers dropping NLDS game 4 to the Cubs, 6-0, on October 9, 2025, at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
The Milwaukee Brewers held a voluntary workout at American Family Field on Friday afternoon in advance of their Oct. 11 winner-take-all Game 5 National League Division Series matchup with the Chicago Cubs.
Despite an early morning arrival back in Milwaukee following their 6-0 Game 4 loss at Wrigley Field, team attendance was nevertheless exemplary.
“We had an optional workout and every player showed up,” manager Pat Murphy said in a virtual interview session with reporters afterwards. “That’s kind of cool, right?”
In the aftermath, Murphy met with pitching coaches Chris Hook and Jim Henderson to finalize a plan of attack.
“We went through a lot of different scenarios,” he said. “Tomorrow morning, we’ll probably get to the final answer.”
And while Murphy wasn’t in position to announce a starter, he did indicate a number of familiar faces will be involved with the Brewers’ first trip to the National League Championship Series since 2018 at stake.
“I don’t think it’ll be surprising,” he said. “You’ve got to have a plan in place that covers everything that happens.”
With Milwaukee’s plan to start Freddy Peralta on four days’ rest having been foiled, it’s going to take an all-hands-on-deck approach to navigate the most critical nine innings the team will have played to this point.
One name that Murphy confirmed will play a role is Jacob Misiorowski, the right-hander who contributed three dynamite innings in which he topped out at 104 mph with his fastball in a Game 2 victory.
To see Misiorowski have a hand in a game that will decide the Brewers’ season will be one of several compelling storylines.
“When you’re in this situation and you’ve had the injuries we’ve had, you’ve got to find a place,” Murphy said of Misiorowski. “Those who follow it every day know exactly where Miz is at and what we’d like him to do, and I think he fits in the plan for sure. Nobody’s stretched out to be able to run the table; we don’t have a starter in place.
“You’ve got to put your best guys out there. A lot of those guys are rookies. A lot of those guys aren’t very experienced. But that’s how we’ve won all these games and come together. Now, we’re pitching in a way bigger environment and it’s a bigger task.
“But I’m confident that we’ll have enough pitching.”
Left-hander Aaron Ashby, who threw 32 pitches in Game 4, is also likely to be called into duty. Assuming he is, that will make four appearances in five NLDS games for the reliever who also served as the opener in Game 2.
“I think he’s available. I think he’ll most likely pitch,” Murphy said. “(Abner) Uribe, (Jared) Koenig, (Trevor) Megill, Ashby, (Chad) Patrick, Miz – those guys are going to probably pitch.”
It would be unsurprising to see Quinn Priester contribute on two days’ rest after throwing 39 pitches in a Game 3 meltdown.
As far as the Cubs, the storyline regarding their pitching has been whether manager Craig Counsell is going to start left-hander Shota Imanaga, who was touched up for four runs – all on a pair of homers – in 2 ⅔ innings in taking the Game 2 loss.
Counsell, as expected, deferred on announcing his decision on Friday.
“We probably know it’s this guy or that guy. But at the same time, we’re ready for anything,” Murphy said. “And that’s what you have to be this time of year. I mean, you have to be ready. The Cubs were picked to win the league. They happen to be playing good over the last two games. If you evaluated the first two games you’d say, ‘Oh, they’re in trouble.’
“They’re a good team. They bounced back, and it’s our job to bounce back again and win this series and move forward.”
Where is Christian Yelich going to bat?
Murphy’s lineups in Games 3 and 4 were under scrutiny from some, as they bumped Christian Yelich up to the leadoff spot after Jackson Chourio hit atop the lineup in the first two wins.
In Game 4, Murphy kept Yelich in the top spot even against a left-hander on the mound in Matthew Boyd. When the lineup turned over for a third time through, Boyd stayed in to face Yelich in a big spot in the fifth inning and struck him out. The Cubs then turned to a right-hander, Daniel Palencia, for Chourio.
It sounds like Murphy will go back to the lineup from early in the series for Game 5, with the skipper saying he doesn’t think he’s batting Yelich first.
“You want your best hitters to hit the most,” Murphy said. “How you configure it is how you don’t want to trap yourself later in the game. You’ve got to consider what guys would be pinch-hit for, if any, in what situation. There’s a lot to it. A lot to it.
“That’s an element that when you see the powerhouse teams don’t have to do that. The powerhouse offenses don’t have to do that. But we sometimes have to reconfigure based on strength and weaknesses, things like that.”
Will a series victory be validation?
Murphy was asked if the Brewers, on the heels of five straight one-and-done playoff appearances, need a series victory to validate all the regular-season winning they’ve done over much of the past decade.
He offered a lengthy response.
“It would be great,” Murphy said. “Validate? You guys have the job to write and criticize and do what you’ve got to do. That’s what you do. Validate? The validation comes from within. You know what you’ve done. The team knows what they’ve done. I’m not looking to validate anything with anyone.
“I mean, it speaks for itself. Neither of these years were we picked over .500. Maybe we were last year a little bit. We won the (division) by 10 games and we won this (year) by five games and we’re trying to go to the World Series and win it.
“To be in the position we’re in, there’s no validation. I just want to do this very badly. I don’t think it validates – what does that mean? Are we not good because we didn’t win a playoff series after we got a bye in the first round by having the best record in the league? That’s got to count for something.
“But I’m not going to think about that. I’m just going to plan on tomorrow and plan on winning.”
Murphy calls for fans to come prepared
The first four games have featured raucous environments, from the roar of the bottom of the first in Game 1 to the Wrigley Field chants of “Fred-dy! Fred-dy! Fred-dy!” as Peralta struggled in Game 4.
That’s what Murphy wants to see – or, rather, hear – in the finale.
“How last year ended, they had a magical season last year that nobody expected. That’s what the fans don’t understand sometimes,” he said. “They’re critical and that’s their right. But they’re also important to us that they come out with the right attitude and help us out the way the Cubs fans helped them and the way Brewers fans helped them the first two days.
“This is baseball. This is hard to do. We’re the only small market team doing this. Get behind these guys.”