NL DIVISION SERIES: PADRES VS BREWERS

October 2, 2026

Pat Murphy

American Family Field

Milwaukee Brewers

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. How is Joey feeling this week? Has he been feeling better? Is he going to be ready to go?

PAT MURPHY: It looks like it's progressing in the right direction. He still has some pain, and he's going to tell you, no, and all that kind of stuff. But he wants to play very badly. I would say at this point we're planning on him being available.

Q. I was wondering what you took away from your time with the San Diego Padres, and how you view that tenure that you spent with them?

PAT MURPHY: I was hired by the Padres in 2010, in like, January 2010. And I was going through kind of a rough professional transition there. And you'd have to understand that to understand my first year there. I just kind of consulted and existed.

And after that I got into managing again, A ball for a couple of years. I had two incredible years in Eugene with that experience, starting to understand pro ball better.

When I played and I managed before in the '80s, it was much different. So coming back whatever that is, 25 years later, getting that minor league experience.

Then I got a chance to jump to Triple-A and did that for two and a half years. Just a great experience, meeting all the people that I met, that I coached with, players, the whole thing, seeing the lay of the land in the minor leagues was a great experience, I mean just a great experience.

I look at that segment in my life as crucial to try to bounce back and rebuild things and go through what I went through, all the time raising my son by myself. It was incredible memories for him and I.

That's what I think of. When I think of the Padres, I think of raising my kid by myself at that time and just bringing him to every town and having him wake up in Yakima with bed bugs, sleeping in the office in Tucson. It was just great memories.

Q. When things ended at ASU, (indiscernible) your plans, ideas of getting into pro ball? And how did it come about with the Padres?

PAT MURPHY: The way things ended at ASU was so abrupt, so difficult because I spent 25 years in college baseball, and had some really good teams. And I just didn't think that, I didn't see myself -- the track that I was in college ball was leading to some really good things. So I wasn't even thinking pro ball.

When it ended, I did get some different phone calls from different organizations. And I thought this was the best opportunity to kind of lay low for a year and kind of put my ducks in a row.

Q. I'll keep you going on that then.

PAT MURPHY: This is a bad room. We've got a game against one of the top teams in baseball and we're talking about bed bugs in Yakima.

Q. Talk about that. When it was settled that the Padres would be the opponent, you'd been prepping for each. What are your thoughts for what this particular match-up presents?

PAT MURPHY: Well, they're playing so well and they're super talented, a super talented, confident team right now with, we all know, the best bullpen in baseball, with some real mega stars in the lineup.

And they're rolling. But that's what you're going to face at this time of year. If you're not interested in that, then play in the NIT if there's an NIT.

Q. What did you guys learn from facing the Padres in the regular season? And what did you learn about yourselves in that mid-August series?

PAT MURPHY: The mid-August series, you see how talented they are, and we were going through a stretch there and had some guys injured and finding out about some other guys. I saw the environment there that has come to be in the last four or five years. That environment is incredible in San Diego. You're, like, wow, this team could be a team to be reckoned with, for sure.

Q. What was this last week like for you guys? Obviously there's a whole rest-versus-rust thing. I know you did a good job trying to keep your guys ready. What was this year like?

PAT MURPHY: When you have a team this young and that many young players, the break kind of, I think, can help. But even the older players I think it helps, especially if they know how to keep their focus.

I'm really into not trying to create what you can't create, you know what I mean? We can't fool these guys. I think authentically they got their work in. They got live ABs, which is most important. They were on their legs for a period of time. That helps. And they also got the rest they needed.

Now it comes down to being ready to fire. And, again, if last year was an indication, they were ready to fire.

Q. When the Padres were here really, really early in the season, Megill and Uribe were both struggling a little bit. Since then they've been fabulous. Just what kind of turned them around after that relatively slow start? And just how big has it been for your bullpen to have those two guys in the back?

PAT MURPHY: Those two guys have been wonderful back there. And Ashby, the list goes on. But, yeah, every reliever is going to go through a bump. They just are. And it usually comes against really good teams with really good hitters.

That helps you make a decision to respond and what adjustments you might need to make. When you get out of Spring Training, sometimes you have to learn the same lessons that you learned the year before and the year before about that focus and staying in that pitch-to-pitch mindset.

Q. One looking back, one looking forward. Preller gave you that chance. He didn't keep you in that season in the majors. Your son plays in their system. What is your relationship like with that organization?

PAT MURPHY: What's my relationship with Preller?

Q. And your son with them.

PAT MURPHY: There isn't, like, you don't have an organization. You don't call the organization and go, what's the name of the San Diego Padres. Hi, is this the Padres? Hi. I really like you.

(Laughter).

You know what I'm saying.

Q. With Preller then.

PAT MURPHY: I respect him. I respect A.J. I really respect him. I respect how, through all the people that have questioned his ways and doing things, that he's maintained it and continues to fill the ballpark in San Diego and continues to make it one of the best baseball environments there is. So I respect him.

And I wouldn't have retained me then either, you know what I mean? I wasn't ready to be the Major League manager he needed. I don't know who followed me. I don't know what the next years were like. But, no, I wouldn't have. I don't hold any ill feelings about that.

Q. Looking forward, you guys don't hit many home runs. For those of us that don't see you day in and day out, can you just describe your brand of baseball?

PAT MURPHY: We try not to hit homers. We try to get above the ball and chop it on the ground and run. We're the anti-homer.

No. It's just part of baseball. You know, home runs are thrown, in my opinion. And you have to be ready when they are thrown. Maybe we weren't quite as ready as some other teams to hit them, or maybe we have a little less ability to hit them than other teams. But we've compensated in other areas. And I'm really proud of our guys.

Q. This was so electrifying last year when he came up, but this year obviously a different level. When could you tell that this version of Misiorowski was going to be sustainable and so much better?

PAT MURPHY: That's a great question, actually. Especially compared to the rest of the questions so far.

(Laughter).

When you saw Miz go through a bump, you know what I mean, and then respond -- he'd go through an inning where he was off, and then he'd come back and get right on it. Or walk a guy give up a ball in the gap, come right and get on it.

Or when he wasn't in his good delivery -- I remember a game in Colorado, he's kind of coasting through it, like, this game doesn't have my juices going. And he's coasting through it, I don't know what inning we're in, like the sixth or something. They've got two of their better hitters coming up. We've got the bullpen going. And it's, like, God, he gives up two base runners or something and he's 3-1 on everybody. And we're, like, looking around, hey, let's get him out of there.

And he looked in there, he looked at me and I looked at him and I said, are you okay. He looked at me and pointed, like, I got this. I'm, like, are you sure? He's, like, I got this.

And it told me that he realized I wasn't on the right channel or his focus wasn't in the right mindset. And he flipped it and could do it. I was proud of him for that.

I saw signs of that throughout the year. He's just continually pitched well without his best stuff. And that's a sign. That is a sign.

Q. Last season, there were any number of storylines that followed the 2025 roster, whether it was streaks, whether it was "do it for Bob." When you look at this year's iteration of your roster, is it more of a, we're doing it for each other this time around?

PAT MURPHY: I kind of don't think of that like you do, you know what I mean? You're trying to create stories. I think that's awesome.

When you mention Bob, I still think about Bob. He still resonates in that room.

We didn't have the big streaks this year. I think that speaks even more to the group in there, how much they responded, how much they bounced back.

I mean, we probably don't have that really good theme. It's kind of the same old theme -- nobody predicted us to do that, and certainly nobody predicted us to have the regular season we did. And they did.

And people are tired of us being the underdog, because they're tired of that storyline. So be tired of it. I don't know. But these guys continue to achieve and achieve.

And the thing that became my storyline is I trust them. And that's a good feeling to trust the people, especially a guy that tries to look at every deficiency we have. And yeah, I ended up trusting them.

Sorry I don't have a better storyline for you but we've got three guys under 22 years old or something like that, or maybe we've got three young ones, I don't know. I can't even come up with them.

We had the most rookie starts of any team, right? So we've got a bunch of rookie pitchers. You come up with the storyline, or ask Mike. Mike's here 55, 60 percent of the games.

Q. You said in a few interviews that a couple of games last year, towards the end of last year, were emotional losses. And I'm wondering if that's something that you observed throughout your career, or specific to this couple of years with this roster? The end of last season, you defined it saying it was an emotional loss, that you saw the guys get behind, something happened in the game, maybe a momentum shift, and it seems like that's something you feel you need to address with these guys, to put it behind you, get to the next thing. Is that something you always felt about baseball, or just in the last couple of years?

PAT MURPHY: I think that's kind of like what everybody -- if you're in this business, you've got to move on. You can't let a bad call -- you can't let a line-drive double play, you can't let a line drive that goes foul with the bases loaded by that much -- you can't let that get in the way of the next couple pitches.

And that ability to kind of relentlessly respond immediately is kind of a mindset that's kind of boring, probably, but it's necessary, I think, to be good. Because the game comes down -- the pitching is so good, the stuff is so good at the plate. For instance, the ball/strike becomes crucial. And I think we've excelled at it.

And I think the guys have understood that being in the "now," being ready and not getting caught up in what this might mean -- I need to win this pitch, ball or strike. Strike, I put a swing on it. You know? Kind of whittling the game down to that not-so-simple but basic thought. I think that's important.

Q. You guys have often been the youngest team or one of the youngest teams in baseball. When you look at this group today, they've played in the postseason before, much of the grouch, do you look at it this year as not being as big of a limiting factor as it might have been in years past?

PAT MURPHY: I'll tell you, it's funny. I don't look at -- two years ago we got beat by a walk-off, not a walk-off, a ninth inning homer by Alonzo when we had one of the best relievers in baseball on the mound. So that happens. We had an opportunity to move on. We were right there.

Last year, we ran into a team that was very, very hot. I think everybody would say that. They're not only hot, but they were super talented, super built for that. Played their best baseball then, that series.

But I don't think youth hurts us. I think youth helps us because these guys are forging their mindsets and creating their approach to the game.

I think youth in a lot of ways helps us. And I think that's been a key more than people know to have those young, hungry players.

And then when they get used to shooting and having standards up here and really trying to live to those standards, how you play the game, you still may not win the series, but as long as you're playing to those standards, that's baseball. That's why you play 162. That's why the playoffs can become a crapshoot. Doesn't always identify the best team.

The year that the Washington Nationals came from the Wild Card to win it all, were they necessarily the best team? They were the best team at that time because of what they went through or one of the best teams at that time. And that's how it works.

But I don't think the youth is an excuse by any means. I think there's a lot of, especially the way we play, I think there's a lot of value in having that youth.

Q. Do you think things like hearing, you can't coast up hill enough times that a lot of this group has been here before?

PAT MURPHY: I don't think they listen to me.

Q. You don't think they listen to it?

PAT MURPHY: No, they just say, that old man is out there speaking again; he's a nice man; let him take his time.

Q. When you guys are planning for a playoff series like this, whether it's roster decisions or the approach you want players to have, are you guys trying to map out ways to get the other team off of their game away from their strengths, what they do well?

PAT MURPHY: Yeah, I mean, that's the age-old question, right? You've got to do what you do well and you've got to understand what the other team can do well and how they're going to attack you knowing how you play and what you do well. So it's that cat-and-mouse all the time. And you can only try to put yourself in the right positions.

We were just in a long meeting, and one of the comments was, you know, you could whittle down every match-up from the third inning on and you're not going to win the match-ups. You just have a certain number of players and a certain number of bullets you can fire. And that's what you do.

But it comes down to being ready pitch to pitch and winning more pitches than not. And there's some parts of the game you can't control. You can't control some parts of the game. And the ones you can control, you try to control and you stay after it. Don't give up.

And the ones that you weren't ready for, the ones that you weren't in the right mindset, you were too emotional, that's where sometimes the youth comes in, you can't get those back. So you make a because-I-wasn't-ready decision and you just fire because you have great velo.

So Miller comes in the game and he's throwing 102, and you're not ready, in the right mindset and all of a sudden it's 102 and you're making a quick decision because it's so fast, instead of, hey, look -- I may not have seen a lot of 102 but I've seen 99, 100. Slow down, try to see it as good as you can and figure out if it's a strike or a ball all in a millisecond, and try to do what you can.

But not get hyped up, not get emotional. Get in that state of, look, I'm ready, really ready. How we measure that, you guys that know all the numbers, you're never going to be able to measure that. But that readiness and how many times you let one of those go is usually the difference in the game.

That's hard to write about, guys. So that doesn't give you much to work with.