MLB WORLD SERIES: RAYS VS BREWERS

October 27, 2026

Garrett Mitchell

David Hamilton

Tropicana Field

Milwaukee Brewers

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. Garrett, you woke up today a win away from winning a World Series. Just take me through your day and the mentality that you have right now going into this one.

GARRETT MITCHELL: Same as every day, just going about my routine, getting up, eating, doing a little therapy, and showing up to the field. Treat it the same way.

Q. Garrett, the Rays' Drew Rasmussen was here just before, and he said that you're a kind of club that if teams do not play well, you will suffocate them. Is that an adequate description of how you guys approach the game?

GARRETT MITCHELL: Yeah, I think that we're the type of team to step on teams' throats and keep going. We're relentless. We don't stop. Especially this time of the year, you never want to let anyone even have a sliver of chance if you don't have to let them.

So I think for us it's just keeping our foot on the gas and continuing to play our brand of baseball from the first pitch to the last.

Q. David, the whole Murph told you to bunt and then you hit a homer got really overblown. But for you as a hitter, have you felt differences this season versus years past of just what you've been able to do, finding your identity to have success, and now starting every game of the World Series?

DAVID HAMILTON: I think when I came in the spring, Murph really talked to me about, I guess, dumbing it down a little bit, bunting some more, back side ground balls, really just trying to get on base. I think getting on base ultimately helps the team win.

That's really all I've been focusing on. It has its ups and downs, but yeah.

Q. This is really for either one of you. William Contreras' ability to win ABS challenges has been a big part of this series. I think he's at seven overturns in this series. Watching him do what he does behind the plate in that area specifically, how impressive and important has that been?

GARRETT MITCHELL: It's been super impressive. He's been doing it all year long, and we've got a lot of trust in him when he's doing that. If we can, we like to save them for him because, again, those are the situations that we probably need it the most.

I think we trust in our abilities on the offensive end to fight off pitches even when they're close or on the edges, but to give William every opportunity to be able to challenge those is huge for us.

Q. Garrett, over the years what have you learned about Murph? From the outside it seems he's gregarious all the time, but he can be very stern where he needs to be and sort of this combination grandfather and disciplinarian at the same time.

GARRETT MITCHELL: Yeah, Murph does it all with love. I think you understanding -- like, taking it away from yourself personally and looking at it from the team aspect -- that there's expectations and you've got to play a certain way.

So when things are happening, you don't take it as personally because you know that it's not only for yourself and your personal relationship, but it's for the team. That's just how we treat it. It's all of us against everyone else. It's not just one person.

I absolutely love the relationship. I can only speak for myself. I absolutely love the relationship I have with Murph. It's an iron sharpens iron mentality, and you've got to be able to take the punches when he gives them to you.

Q. David, similar question for you. With Matt Arnold, as someone who was traded and now reacquired, how have you felt his impact on this club? You guys are maybe seeing him a little more in the clubhouse in this postseason, just the nature of things. What do you think about his role in putting this team together?

DAVID HAMILTON: I feel like he did a great job. He got all the right people to get us to this point. I think it's cool seeing him in the locker room, in the clubhouse. Yeah, he's always got good vibes.

Q. One of the big stories yesterday was the fans coming down to travel for this. Do you have tickets that you can distribute? Are you allotted some? Did you get requests for more tickets? I know you didn't have that in your focus, but maybe your spouses or family members.

GARRETT MITCHELL: Yeah, 40 tickets is not happening. Those are meant for -- at least for me, I can't speak for everyone else -- but those are meant for immediate family.

A lot of ticket requests for sure, but the atmosphere here with the amount of Brewers fans, you can feel it, and it started in batting practice yesterday. Just like when we were stretching, you could hear it. It was lots of "let's go Brewers" chants.

To have that on the road, pretty special. Pretty special.

Q. When you go back to Spring Training, discussion with Eric, the hitting coach staff, talk about building an identity and approach. Can you describe some of the elements that maybe were stressed then and the process of maintaining that as consistently as you guys have over the course of the season?

DAVID HAMILTON: I think the approach for us is really just put together a good at-bat. Know what you're looking for. When you get to two strikes, just battle. Have a good at-bat for the next person, and hopefully the next person has a good at-bat, so on and so forth.

You just put together good at-bats back to back, and it wears on the pitcher, wears on the other team, and it gives us good pitches to hit too.

Q. Garrett, when you got here, I guess Murph was the bench coach for Counsell. Since he became manager, how has he changed or evolved or kind of put even more of his own imprint on the Brewers?

GARRETT MITCHELL: I would say Murph is the same guy. Stepping into the role of being a manager definitely changes things, but Murph has always been Murph.

When he took over, he just made it his team. Like he spoke up even more. Again, that expectation to go out there and play a certain brand of baseball and making it about winning, first and foremost, and everything else not really mattering at the end of the day if it wasn't focused on winning.

The pieces that have been here and the guys who have been here for as long as they have as we've continued to grow and mature as a group have really taken on that mentality that whatever it takes to win, whether it's through small ball, playing defense, running the bases.

But it's just been really fun. You can see each year it's gotten better and better and continuing to fine-tune things as we've gone on. But the expectation here is winning. That's where it starts and finishes.

Q. As one of the more low-key guys on this team, I'm curious what you make of Sal, who's not one of the more low-key guys on the team?

DAVID HAMILTON: Sal, he's a character, man. I feel like he's the glue guy. He brings us all together. He's always talking to everybody, making everybody laugh. Yeah, man, he's a great teammate to have, that's for sure.

Q. For each of you, how many checkmarks have you picked up over the years on his whiteboard? At the end of the year, are there any penalties for them?

GARRETT MITCHELL: Not that I'm aware of.

DAVID HAMILTON: What whiteboard?

GARRETT MITCHELL: I don't think so. I don't think I've got any checkmarks. I don't think David does either.

You're good. Nothing.

Q. David, who are some of the people who have helped you most within the organization this year, whether it's defensively, offensively, off the field, those sort of things?

DAVID HAMILTON: I don't know if I can single out one person. I think everybody helped me a little bit in different ways. I think E.T. helped me a lot in spring. We would do early work before the games, really just trying to hit back side ground balls for 50 to 100 swings. Do mixed BP with him every day, and I think that's helped me a lot.

Yeah, I feel like every coach has helped me in little ways throughout the year.

Q. Garrett, there's been a lot of kids on social media that have been posting that have Type 1 diabetes that are really inspired by you and the platform you've used throughout this playoff run. What does that mean to you to make that imprint on those kids?

GARRETT MITCHELL: It means the world. Growing up, like I didn't have a ton of people that I was able to look up to that I felt like I was able to talk to. One that I did get to talk to was Sam Fuld.

For me, being in this position, that is, outside of the baseball player Garrett, like Garrett, the diabetic, has been like a thing for me, like that's how I connect with a lot of people.

I don't tend to -- I have my blinders on when playing, but when I hear anything diabetic related, instantly like the baseball player turns off and Garrett, the Type 1 diabetic turns on.

So for me it's super special and it's super sweet because, again, to be able to help people who have challenging journeys or feel confused or conflicted or lost, like I've been there. I get it. Especially early on when you're trying to figure out something like diabetes and there's a lot of question marks in how to take care of yourself, what does that mean? How do you hydrate? How do you eat? How do you do X, Y, and Z?

All I want is for people to know it's okay and life goes on. Yeah, it can be a challenge, but it's not life-defining. It's not going to stop you from doing anything that you want to do in your life or any of your dreams. It definitely changes things where you've got to be a little bit more aware of what you're doing, but for me I think of it as a super power because every day you've got to show up and take care of yourself with your body.

For me I feel like it's a little edge I have, when it comes to hydrating and eating, doing things that naturally I have to do for my own health, but is also able to help me on the baseball field.

Q. David, do you let your mind go to you might be a World Series champion at the end of the night, or does that part of your brain not even think like that?

DAVID HAMILTON: We're not there yet. I think we've got to focus on the early work, focus on the stuff before the game first. Then when we get to the game, it's one pitch at a time. Afterwards, we can celebrate, but not there yet.