At the outset of each postseason series, as the Milwaukee Brewers queued along the baselines to be introduced to the crowd, manager Pat Murphy found a way to eschew tradition. Murphy declined to offer his players his hand, disinterested in what he called the “happy horses—“ that distracted from the task before them. This past October, his team found a way around their manager’s reticence. The players greeted him by pounding his chest.
Murphy’s ability to influence players, in ways both large and small, are part of why he has become the back-to-back National League Manager of the Year, as revealed on Tuesday evening. Murphy received 27 of 30 available first-place votes.
The 66-year-old led the Brewers to a franchise-record 97 wins, more than any team in baseball in 2025. He became the first NL skipper to win the award in consecutive seasons since Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox in 2004 and 2005. Cleveland’s Stephen Vogt on Tuesday became the first back-to-back American League Manager of the Year award winner since Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash accomplished the feat in 2020 and 2021.
The Brewers crashed out of the postseason after being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. Even so, the group became the first Brewers team to win a postseason series since 2018. Along the way, Murphy juggled so many nicknames for his group of inexperienced, inexpensive players that it was easy for a casual observer to lose track. In Murphy’s vernacular, they were “Average Joes,” the offense operated like “woodpeckers,” and most of the roster was comprised of “cliffhangers,” meaning they could lose their spot in the majors at a moment’s notice.
“They’re not baseball players (who) are comfortable,” Murphy said this past October. “They’re still hungry. And hungry players, they make the manager look good, that’s for sure. And it’s, like, I’m just proud as hell of those guys.”
After winning 93 games in 2024, the Brewers were projected to take a step back in 2025. FanGraphs pegged the team’s postseason chances at 35.4 percent. PECOTA predicted an 80-win season. Instead, the Brewers ran away with the National League Central again, this time through a blend of contact-based hitting and aggression on the base paths. Their defeat by the Dodgers demonstrated the limitations of the strategy. But Murphy got a chance to showcase his personality on the national stage in the process. He can be witty. He can be profane. He can be inviting — he opened each news conference by asking reporters who did not regularly cover the Brewers to introduce themselves to him.
By next year, there may be even more new faces watching Milwaukee. The Brewers will return their position-player core for 2026 and figure to contend once again. To hear the players tell it, the club relies upon a culture of accountability created by Murphy but reinforced through veterans like outfielder Christian Yelich.
“Murph is going to tell you exactly what he’s thinking and feeling at the time,” Yelich said during the postseason. “He’s not always going to say the thing that’s politically correct or that’s overly concerned about how people feel about it.”
The Brewers consider that level of candor vital to their success. It also permits players to be more open to hearing criticism. They don’t really have a choice — if they mess up, they will hear from their skipper.
“Obviously, he’s got a strong personality, and at first it was a little bit intimidating,” said outfielder Brandon Lockridge, who joined the team at the trade deadline. “But once you realize and you play for him for a few games, you realize that he truly wants every player to get the most out of themselves. He’s huge on the culture; everybody playing together, pulling for the same thing . . . I just think that’s a reflection of what Murph brings to the table. He’s a super easy guy to play for. You really want to get back to the dugout and get that high five from him and feel like he’s proud of you.”
The Brewers promoted Murphy after the 2023 season. He had spent the previous eight seasons as Craig Counsell’s bench coach. When Counsell took a five-year, $40 million contract with the Chicago Cubs, Murphy inherited the office. Alongside Matt Arnold, who was recently promoted to president of baseball operations, Murphy has extended the string of success that began under Counsell and former head honcho David Stearns.
“What you see is what you get from Murph,” Arnold said. “It’s every day is what he brings. He brings an intensity. He brings a relentless approach. He cares so much about the people in the room and winning that it’s infectious. It really is. I think it’s been tremendous because it’s become part of our fabric.”