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On June 29, the Milwaukee Brewers opened their series against the Cincinnati Reds with a 5-3 victory, which also marked their 51st win of the season. The day after the game, Brewers manager Pat Murphy joined Wisconsin Morning News to talk about a litany of topics.
Milwaukee is having a strong season in large part because of the focus of its players, which Murphy highlighted.
"Yeah, no doubt. But the way you do that is you play with a little bit of an edge and you play all nine," Murphy said. "You go pitch-to-pitch. You don't have divided attention. You're not thinking about your numbers.
"You're not thinking about anything but this next pitch," he added. "It's hard to do, easy to talk about, but very hard to do as a player when you got all sorts of distractions and things going on, an All-Star Game. Do I make it? Do I not? Got a contract, maybe I should take it, maybe I shouldn’t."
Despite varying circumstances for each player and the different stages and trajectories of their careers, those who make up the Brewers' roster are able to collectively come together to put together a complimentary body of work that translates into winning.
"You know, all that stuff comes into play, and it's hard on some of these guys," Murphy said. "And people may laugh at that, but it's hard when it comes to — it's privileged —but when it comes to getting it done in a game, when you're trying to hit a round ball with a round bat, when the ball's moving, very, very difficult.
“And yeah, you got to get down to the core,” Murphy added. “The core is being in the now, and we were in the now for the whole game, and we had to give them a little reminder about that. And they responded like we have throughout the last couple years.”
One of the players who has been committed to winning baseball is Joey Ortiz. In the win over the Reds, Ortiz hit a two-run, go-ahead home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Brewers the lead. Murphy praised him for that and talked about what Ortiz means to the team in the big picture.
“Yeah, there's no question,” Murphy said. “I mean, Joey's been an intricate part of this team that's, you know, won as many games as they've ever won in the franchise in the last two years with him playing shortstop or third base, and he's been tremendous defensively.
“Offensively, he hasn't got it going to the level of Major League average, but, you know, he hangs in there. He cares so much. He's a great person,” Murphy added. “He's a great teammate. He doesn't take a day off. He does whatever's asked of him.”
For Ortiz, the process has not been easy, but he sticks to it.
“And, you know, he's frustrated,” Murphy said. “He wants more success. Now, we sign a guy to a long-term deal that's a shortstop, so he has to move to third part-time. Plays a little part-time short.
“You know, it's tough on a kid,” Murphy added. “So, for him to come through, I mean, his teammates were overjoyed. The staff was overjoyed. So, I mean, he's just a great kid.”
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Milwaukee is having a strong season in large part because of the focus of its players, which Murphy highlighted.
"Yeah, no doubt. But the way you do that is you play with a little bit of an edge and you play all nine," Murphy said. "You go pitch-to-pitch. You don't have divided attention. You're not thinking about your numbers.
"You're not thinking about anything but this next pitch," he added. "It's hard to do, easy to talk about, but very hard to do as a player when you got all sorts of distractions and things going on, an All-Star Game. Do I make it? Do I not? Got a contract, maybe I should take it, maybe I shouldn’t."
Despite varying circumstances for each player and the different stages and trajectories of their careers, those who make up the Brewers' roster are able to collectively come together to put together a complimentary body of work that translates into winning.
"You know, all that stuff comes into play, and it's hard on some of these guys," Murphy said. "And people may laugh at that, but it's hard when it comes to — it's privileged —but when it comes to getting it done in a game, when you're trying to hit a round ball with a round bat, when the ball's moving, very, very difficult.
“And yeah, you got to get down to the core,” Murphy added. “The core is being in the now, and we were in the now for the whole game, and we had to give them a little reminder about that. And they responded like we have throughout the last couple years.”
One of the players who has been committed to winning baseball is Joey Ortiz. In the win over the Reds, Ortiz hit a two-run, go-ahead home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Brewers the lead. Murphy praised him for that and talked about what Ortiz means to the team in the big picture.
“Yeah, there's no question,” Murphy said. “I mean, Joey's been an intricate part of this team that's, you know, won as many games as they've ever won in the franchise in the last two years with him playing shortstop or third base, and he's been tremendous defensively.
“Offensively, he hasn't got it going to the level of Major League average, but, you know, he hangs in there. He cares so much. He's a great person,” Murphy added. “He's a great teammate. He doesn't take a day off. He does whatever's asked of him.”
For Ortiz, the process has not been easy, but he sticks to it.
“And, you know, he's frustrated,” Murphy said. “He wants more success. Now, we sign a guy to a long-term deal that's a shortstop, so he has to move to third part-time. Plays a little part-time short.
“You know, it's tough on a kid,” Murphy added. “So, for him to come through, I mean, his teammates were overjoyed. The staff was overjoyed. So, I mean, he's just a great kid.”
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