The Milwaukee Brewers won their 10th straight and swept the season series against the Dodgers with a 6-5 victory Sunday evening. The best team in baseball since late May (34-12), the Brewers have firm control atop the wild card race and have tied Chicago for first in the NL Central Division. This wild run has come without the big names that populate other rosters. Indeed, the team’s most prominent player might be rookie starter Jacob Misiorowski. Ace Freddy Peralta was the team’s only initially chosen All-Star, before Milwaukee gained a pair of substitute spots.
The Brewers’ unorthodox model of success has become a rallying cry for the organization and for fans. After completing the sweep over Los Angeles, manager Pat Murphy referenced the roster’s composition of “average Joes” in a manner that rubbed Dodgers people the wrong way.
Powered by Rookies, Reclamation Projects and So-Called No-Names, Milwaukee Brewers Continue Standings Surge
“It’s a bunch of guys nobody’s ever heard of,” Murphy described his team to reporters. True to form, the one-run win saw every batter in the order record a hit; each of the six runs was scored by a different player.
That’s how it’s been all season. The Brewers are the living image of a scrappy team, needing only 96 homeruns, 23rd in MLB, to score the seventh-most runs. With some pop here and there, the lineup has manufactured offense mainly by getting on base and swiping bags: Milwaukee ranks ninth in OBP and second in steals.
The starting rotation has been a revelation, rising above injuries and sustained by seemingly impossible depth. Misiorowski has turned into a star after five big league starts. Brandon Woodruff has dazzled early on since returning from a nearly two-year absence.
Acquired from Boston in April in what then seemed like a nothing trade, Quinn Priester wasn’t supposed to be any good. He’s 8-2 with a 3.33 ERA. 36-year-old Jose Quintana is 7-3 with a mark of 3.49.
Looking at a lineup led by Christian Yelich and Jackson Chourio, Milwaukee’s primary power hitters in addition to the injured Rhys Hoskins, Brewers fans themselves might be surprised to learn that neither are among the roster’s top three most valuable position players by Wins Above Replacement. That status belongs to second baseman Brice Turang (3.0 WAR), third baseman Caleb Durbin (2.2), and right fielder Sal Frelick (2.2).
League-leading rookie production and unexpected success stories – paging first baseman Andrew Vaughn – have not only kept the Brewers afloat, these elements have made them one of baseball’s most formidable forces. They haven’t needed a $300 million dollar payroll like the Dodgers, Mets, or Yankees. Milwaukee ranks 24th with $113 million in total salary.
Los Angeles Dodgers Outlet Takes Issue with Pat Murphy’s Remarks
Rostering international attractions like Japan’s Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles gets the attention it does for good reason. Last offseason the Dodgers also signed Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim, a Rookie of the Year Candidate. In stark contrast to the Brewers’ landlocked squad, they have for years drawn a global following. Murphy highlighted this distinction in his comments.
“No disrespect to the great fans of Japan baseball, but they can’t name five guys in our lineup,” the manager said. “And that’s just a credit to hungry, hungry players. … I’m still proud of our club and what they did, and how they competed in big situations. A bunch of average Joes.”
While his comments ring true in principle, calling out Ohtani or Yamamoto fans specifically, or implying that LA’s roster is exclusively composed of Japanese players, was not necessary for his argument. It was detrimental. It’s hard to blame Murphy for riding the emotions of dominating the NL’s national media darlings, but he went a bit too far with that one.
Writing for Dodgers Way of the FanSided network, author Katrina Stebbins called out Murphy in turn.
“There were a lot of different ways Murphy could’ve credited his players that wouldn’t have included dragging Dodgers fans into it, much less by trying to disparage the Dodgers by calling them ‘Japan baseball.’ He clearly just wanted to find a way to shoehorn in what he probably thought was an incredibly clever zinger that was, in actuality, kind of an iffy thing to say.”
On the counts of needlessly referencing “Japan Baseball” and the dubious nature of the remark, Stebbins is absolutely right. Entirely uncalled for on Murphy’s part.
The author’s own assumptions on Murphy’s intentions, however, as well as the overall tone, suggest frustration that may or may not have to do with being swept – at home – by a team like the Brewers, a small-market franchise with relatively little star power.
In the future, Murphy should try to check himself before saying something inappropriate, but he shouldn’t change anything about how he’s managing the team. With Sunday’s win, the Brewers improve to 59-40, tied with the Cubs not only for the division but for the NL’s best record, while the struggling Dodgers drop to 58-42.
Milwaukee continues its West Coast road trip Monday night against Seattle.
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