NL DIVISION SERIES: PADRES VS BREWERS

October 6, 2026

Garrett Mitchell

Petco Park

Milwaukee Brewers

Pregame 3 Press Conference

Q. Obviously this time of year, it's exciting for any player. Last year at this time you were not able to take part. Have you allowed yourself to think back to a year ago when you were kind of on the outside looking in, or is that too depressing?

GARRETT MITCHELL: I don't think too much about it. I obviously know where I was last year. I wasn't here. But not really worried about more of the past, I'm more worried about the present, and I'm here now and competing.

Q. As behind you and the team as the crowd was in Milwaukee, this crowd is going to be highly against you. What do you think about just coming into this environment? They said in the previous press conference it will feel like 40 versus 50,000. What's your mindset about that?

GARRETT MITCHELL: I think it's a great opportunity for us. It's part of being in the postseason. You're going to play in hostile environments, and you have to be able to handle these types of situations if you see yourself going far.

So I think for us right now, it's a great opportunity and showing up today and seeing what we can do.

Q. You guys consistently like take really good at-bats for what the situation demands. I'm sure that's like harder -- it's easier said than done. How do they get that message across to you guys, and how are you able to just do that game after game after game after game, guy after guy?

GARRETT MITCHELL: I think it's just being present in the moment. It's not looking forward. It's not looking behind. Every pitch and every at-bat and every moment is a new opportunity. I think for us, like I said -- I've said this a lot this year, but you treat each day the same from Game 1 to game now.

I think we do a really good job at that. We're staying present. We're not worried about what's happened behind us and what's ahead of us, but just sticking to one pitch, one moment at a time, and trying to win that day, that pitch, that moment.

Q. There's a lot of talk about the bullpens coming into this matchup. What do you draw from just how you guys have faced their bullpen in the first two games and the success that you guys have had against some of their best relievers?

GARRETT MITCHELL: Obviously it's very -- they're a very good pitching staff, starters and bullpen. It's a grind every at-bat. No at-bat is an easy at-bat. So trying to just win each pitch and each moment is where it starts, trying to put yourself in a good situation, get yourself ahead in hitter's counts.

But the first two games have been a grind, right? They've been very close, and they could have gone either way, and that goes for both sides. I think this whole series has been about the pitching and who can kind of get the last blow on the offense to try to get you ahead.

Q. Last time the Brewers came to California to play a playoff game, you visited in different circumstances. What do you remember about that day? Was that a hard day? And compare it to now.

GARRETT MITCHELL: Was it a hard day? I mean, yeah, not being able to be out there and help your team and compete is mentally challenging, but at that time too, it's about the team and doing whatever it takes to win.

Being able to be on both sides of that, being able to play in the postseason in '24, being able to be there last year, even though it didn't go the way we wanted it to, all of that holds value, all of that's important because you're constantly watching, listening, seeing what's going on, but you learn. You can learn on the field, but you can also learn, like I said, just watching the game and watching how things are going.

For me, I take it as all learning lessons regardless of playing or not playing.

Q. The guys before you were asked a really good question. It's been ten years almost, 2018, since the Brewers won a postseason road game. What makes this team different? What makes this team, in your opinion, have the ability to win a game on the road?

GARRETT MITCHELL: I think there's a different level of confidence in this group, and it's not with outwardly showing something. It's just that belief. We've been here before, and we know the group of guys that are in that clubhouse.

For us, it really just comes down to trusting in one another, and it's not on one person's shoulders to get it done, it's on everyone's. We all have a role, and that's to pass it on to the next guy. Especially with being on the road with the environment, it's that group of guys that are in that dugout versus everyone.

So when inevitably a punch is thrown tonight and we're going to have to respond and vice versa, it's about being together as one group and that belief. I think that this year we have just an unwavering belief in each other and as a group that, if we go out there and do what we do and play our brand of baseball, that we can win any game.