The Milwaukee Brewers are going through a rough stretch as for the second time this season they have lost four consecutive ball games. They began the year 0-4 after being swept by the Yankees plus losing the home opener against the Royals, and most recently dropped the final two games of the Giants series and the first two against the Cardinals.
Amid this string of losses, the team’s struggles with fundamentals have become increasingly apparent. From bobbled grounders, uncharacteristic infield errors, a dropped ball by Christian Yelich, and missed opportunities with runners in scoring position, the inability to execute the little things is starting to add up.
During Milwaukee’s game on Saturday against the Cardinals, Pat Murphy actually benched two players mid-game for disciplinary reasons.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy benched Sal Frelick and Caleb Durbin mid-game
After two-at bats each, Frelick and Durbin both left Saturday’s contest unexpectedly. Both players were removed following plays where they didn’t execute. For Frelick, he missed the cutoff man and Durbin got picked off while on base.
Pat Murphy confirmed his benching of Sal Frelick was for missing the cutoff man in the fourth. Caleb Durbin’s in the fifth was for being picked off.
“These are young players, and they’ve got to know there’s consequences for not playing right, or playing playing sloppy,” he said.
— Todd Rosiak (@Todd_Rosiak) April 26, 2025
Following the contest, Frelick told Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that “We got benched and it stinks. But, yeah, you’ve got to make an example sometimes, and I think me and Caleb understand that.”
Despite being benched, this won’t have an effect on either player’s playing time long term. Both Frelick and Durbin are every day players for the Brewers.
Frelick is a gold glove award winner and with Garrett Mitchell on the injured list he will be playing center field. Durbin was recently promoted to the big leagues, but is going to get an extended look at third base.
Hopefully Murphy’s decision to bench two key contributors mid-game resonates well with Frelick and Durbin while also setting an expectation for the rest of the team that they need to execute the little things better in order to get out of this skid.
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