NL DIVISION SERIES: CUBS VS BREWERS

October 6, 2025

Caleb Durbin

Isaac Collins

American Family Field

Milwaukee Brewers

Pregame 2 Press Conference

Q. I was curious, did you ever cross paths with Quinn Priester in high school or summer ball or anything like that?

CALEB DURBIN: No, I didn't. This was the first time meeting him. I believe he went to Cary-Grove, which is pretty close to where I grew up in Lake Forest. I think we actually played them in baseball, and I'm not sure -- I assume he was on the team.

I obviously didn't know him at the time. Yeah, pretty funny. I didn't know him before this year, though.

Q. Isaac, as Chourio is going through all his stuff, how are you looking at this opportunity if it comes to get back to some regular at-bats, and how big of a challenge has that been the last couple of weeks without the regularity of the at-bats?

ISAAC COLLINS: Yeah, just taking each day as any other day and just trying to prepare, whether I'm in the lineup or not. I always prepare pretty much the same way, and with our team this year, it's always been just the next man up.

Chourio is a big part of this team, and we hope that there is no setback. But if my name is called upon, I'm going to be ready for my moment.

Q. Caleb, now that you're at the end of your season, can you look back at your journey as a third baseman and what it was like when you first started and at what point was it where things really started to click for you as a defensive third baseman?

CALEB DURBIN: Yeah, I think the last couple years, having the chance to kind of learn the position a little bit more, really didn't start playing there until my first or second full season in pro ball. Always really liked it, coming up through the minors, but having a chance to get everyday reps there, especially at this level.

I grew a lot, and I think just having that type of everyday reps at this level, you're going to get a lot better just from game reps.

Definitely a lot of improvement there. Again, taking ground balls every day with Matt before the games and Joey and Brice. They've helped me a ton. Obviously a lot more to improve on, but definitely take pride in knowing that there was a lot of growth there this season.

Q. For Isaac, when you look at what you did the first four, four and a half, five months of the year and you look at the last month, what do you feel like you need to do to get back to that version of yourself?

ISAAC COLLINS: Just learn from the mistakes and continue to take the game one pitch at a time. It's a long season, and I had a really good stretch there middle of the year, and there's just ebbs and flows. Sometimes the ball bounces your way; sometimes it doesn't.

The best way to just kind of get back to the best version of yourself is trusting your process and what got me to that point. Continually working and just staying present, and again, just being ready for my moment.

Q. The on-base skills you had in the Minor Leagues you've been able to translate to that level. What's been the key to being that effective at that part of the game as long as you have?

ISAAC COLLINS: Just trusting my approach at the plate and really being stubborn with my approach. The pitcher obviously has his plan. They have their reports. They're scouting me and what they're trying to do and not falling to his plan and just sticking to what works with me, what works for me, and just trying to execute the game, really.

Q. Caleb, what's Murph's message to you guys heading into this game?

CALEB DURBIN: Yeah, same as Game 1, I think, and just heading into the postseason, is pitch by pitch. Nice to be up 1-0, but it honestly doesn't matter. I think if we lost Game 1 we'd have the same approach, and that's just fighting from pitch 1 to pitch 270 or whenever the game ends.

That's kind of been the mindset from Game 1. It's going to be the same mindset throughout the entire postseason.

But yeah, this team has a lot of fight, and it doesn't matter what happens throughout the game. Doesn't matter if they hit a lead-off home run. We're going to keep fighting until the end.

Q. Caleb, facing Imanaga, is it any different approach than you would have for any pitcher? Obviously you guys are as good as anybody not swinging at balls. What is the approach against Imanaga? What's worked for you before?

CALEB DURBIN: Yeah, same thing goes with them. It's nice because we've seen them a lot and we've faced Imanaga three or four times this year already.

It's nice when you have your own personal film to look at. I think I have seven at-bats off him already. That's super nice. You're obviously looking at what he did against you and the way he attacked you and try to learn from it and maybe pick up on any tendencies you think that he has when facing you in particular.

We have our hitters' meeting later, obviously, and we'll go through the different ways we want to attack him. But probably is not going to be too different than the way we approached him earlier in the season.

Q. A follow-up is do you go after him from what you've seen before or the present version of what you're seeing from him in his last starts?

CALEB DURBIN: I think both. I've looked at my at-bats from the first time I faced him, and definitely watching some film when he faced the Padres in the postseason. So that's good film to watch. I forget who he faced before that. Maybe the Reds.

Yeah, you're definitely looking at film pretty recent because pitchers do tend to adjust throughout the year, so you definitely want to pick up on those types of tendencies.

Q. You were traded in the offseason from one team that had an opening at third base to another one. What did you do once the trade happened? What did you do to get in position to make the major league team and win this job?

CALEB DURBIN: Yeah, I think I was added to the 40-man with the Yankees to end last season, so automatically I'm kind of going into the next Spring Training ideally hoping to fight for a starting spot. Already kind of had that in my mind, knowing that that would be an opportunity.

Then once I was traded to the Brewers, the only thing that really changed was the team. Have that mindset of chasing your dream and wanting to play in the Big Leagues.

I figured it would be -- third base would probably be the spot, so that was kind of an adjustment to, okay, now that's more of my mindset is trying to hold down the corner.

No matter what, I was fighting to try to make a big league roster, and getting traded to the Brewers ended up being a really cool opportunity for me.

Q. Your stories aren't totally dissimilar: Midwest guys, D-III and Minor League Rule 5. What do you think your paths to sitting on that podium should say to other ballplayers, and if it says anything about this Brewers team?

CALEB DURBIN: Yeah, I think it's really cool because we're both probably -- I don't want to speak for Isaac, but we were probably both in positions early on in our college and pro careers where not a lot of people thought that we could be at this spot speaking to a ton of reporters ahead of a postseason game.

But that being said, I think we believed in ourselves. I know this was obviously something that I wanted to pursue and thought that I could do, and he'd probably say the same thing.

It's nice now because there's a lot of pressure. There's a lot of extra stuff going into the postseason, but having the kind of background that we have and that a lot of guys have in this room, we have nothing to lose. We're playing with house money. It's kind of how we feel.

But we also feel like we're really good and can go all the way. It's kind of this really cool balance of there's a lot of pressure involved, but I don't think we feel too much of it. I think it's just from the type of people that we have in our clubhouse.

ISAAC COLLINS: Yeah, to build off of what Durbin said, it really comes down to just believing in yourself. There's been plenty of times in the Minor Leagues where I started questioning whether I could do this. Doubts started to creep in.

You really just have to take those hard moments as lessons and really just try to shift your perspective on things and just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Durbin and I, we worked hard to get here. We earned every bit of our success up here, and just for other guys that are in the Minor Leagues, just never give up. Just keep going. Keep going no matter how hard it gets, and eventually the ball will start to bounce your way, and you kind of can take that momentum and ride that wave for as long as you can.

Q. Isaac, is there anybody or a group of people inside the clubhouse over the last week that's taken on more of a vocal leadership role? Because I know there are a handful of you that are experiencing postseason baseball for the first time.

ISAAC COLLINS: Yes and no. We don't have too many super vocal leaders. We all know who our leaders are, and they know as well.

Throughout the entire year, they've always given us tips and advice of how to go throughout this big league season, but when it comes to the playoffs, we all trust one another. Nothing really changes. It just comes down to just really executing the game and trusting your teammates out there and just playing to win.

Q. For both you guys, the atmosphere in here on Saturday was crazy. Obviously we can expect more of that tonight. What is that like to play in front of a crowd like that that is just absolutely bonkers, and do you enjoy playing in front of that?

CALEB DURBIN: Yeah, it's the best feeling. It's the best because you grow up and you want to play in these big games in the postseason. Finally getting that first little taste -- you think about it, and I feel a little spoiled because rookie year being able to experience that, a lot of guys throughout their careers don't even get to experience that.

Kind of getting that early on under my belt, both of our belts early on in our career, is super cool.

ISAAC COLLINS: Yeah, AmFam was rocking Saturday, even just for the player intros, the towels waving. Like Durbin said, that's what you dream of. That's why we play this game, to win a World Series. When you go out in the backyard to play wiffle ball with your friends, you always think about hitting a home run in Game 7 of the World Series.

For it to be a reality is just incredible. Words can't really describe what it's like taking that field with the fans, a division rival. It's amazing. And for us to get that win Game 1 is huge.