Pat Murphy Doubles Down on Dodgers' 8-Man Dig
pat murphy is at it again, casting the Milwaukee Brewers as the overlooked club even while they sit at 27-18 and keep winning with one of Major League Baseball's lowest payrolls. The Brewers are 8-2 in their last 10 games and are on pace for a 97-win season, another reminder that the underdog label has not stopped the results.
Murphy and the Dodgers
During last year's NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Murphy said, "I'm sure that most Dodger players can't name eight guys on our roster," and then added, "No offense to them, they shouldn't have to know the names, but these are some guys that hopefully they know their names by the time it's over. You never know." It was a pointed line then. It sounds even sharper now, with Milwaukee again stacking wins while being treated like the lesser-known side in a matchup with a heavier financial footprint.
The Dodgers won the 2025 NLCS in close games, and Shohei Ohtani finished that series with one of the greatest individual games in baseball history. That is the backdrop for Murphy's recurring message: the Brewers can keep competing even when the roster keeps changing and the payroll sits near the bottom of the sport.
Brewers Results Under Pressure
Milwaukee has made the postseason in seven of the last eight years, and the only miss in that stretch came in 2022, when the club still finished 86-76. The Brewers also reached the NLCS twice in that span, won the NL Central three straight years, and captured the division five times between 2018 and 2025.
That track record fits the organization's reputation across Major League Baseball. The Brewers have done it with one of the sport's lowest payrolls, a 2019 figure of $132 million, while the current payroll range in the context sits between $163 million and $167 million for other clubs and $131 million for Milwaukee.
Wrigley Field and the Next Test
This week Milwaukee was at Wrigley Field, carrying its 27-18 record into another stretch where the standings matter more than the speeches. Freddy Peralta, Caleb Durbin and Isaac Collins are part of the current mix, while the earlier version of this roster also moved on from Josh Hader, Corbin Burnes and Devin Williams.
Murphy's line about the Dodgers not being able to name eight Brewers players fits a pattern: he keeps leaning into the overlooked label, and the team keeps answering with October trips and division titles. For Milwaukee, the next test is not whether the message sounds too harsh. It's whether the record keeps matching it.
