Former Brewers catcher confirms fans’ fears about negative effects of NLCS strategy

The Milwaukee Brewers won 97 games in the regular season by playing their brand of baseball. Despite the national media and projection models expecting the Brew Crew to take a significant step backwards in 2025, Milwaukee ended up winning more games in the regular season than any team in baseball, in large part due to the unwavering confidence that manager Pat Murphy instilled in his players.

When Andrew Vaughn was essentially cast off by his former squad, the Chicago White Sox, he was granted an everyday role in Milwaukee, and Murphy told him to play baseball "like a Neanderthal," as Vaughn revealed on the popular Foul Territory podcast earlier this season. When José Quintana was passed up by team after team this offseason, cast aside in an age where velocity and movement have become paramount, the Brewers brought in the wily veteran and trusted him to be an important part of their starting rotation. When Caleb Durbin struggled out of the gates, Murphy didn't call for his demotion to Triple-A, but rather acknowledged the difficulty of adjusting to major league pitching, stuck with his young third baseman, and Durbin thrived.

The instances of Murphy almost willing confidence into his group of ballplayers go on and on, and the results spoke for themselves: a team that many didn't expect to win more than 80 games, earned the top seed in the National League.

However, since the postseason has begun, that confidence appears to be faltering; not in the words Murphy says, but rather in the decisions that he's made. While the Brewers' manager remains steadfast in his belief that his team can overcome any challenge, even a 3-0 deficit to one of the greatest baseball teams ever assembled, his game decisions tell a different story.

Erik Kratz comments on how the Brewers' pitching decisions could have a trickle-down effect on the team's confidence

Brewers fans have become accustomed to their team announcing that a relief pitcher, generally left-hander Aaron Ashby, will pitch the first inning of their playoff game before handing the ball to whomever was scheduled to be the starting pitcher that day. While the opener strategy holds merit, generally working to neutralize a left-handed threat at the top of an opposing lineup, it could also have a negative impact on a team's confidence. After all, electing to use an opener is essentially telling your starting pitcher that you don't believe in his ability to be successful against the other team's best hitters in the first inning.

Former Milwaukee Brewers catcher, Erik Kratz, who is a member of the aforementioned Foul Territory podcast, commented on the possible phenomenon during Friday's installment of the program. Take a moment to watch the following clip and hear what the former big leaguer has to say on the team's pitching strategy possibly impacting the rest of the squad's confidence.

Brewers fans can assume that their team's confidence is wavering right now, given their performance on the field, but to hear a former big leaguer, one who played in an NLCS against the Dodgers for that matter, say it, adds a whole new level of validity to the argument. Kratz knows what it's like in a big-league clubhouse and knows how certain decisions can affect morale.

As Kratz clearly notes, it's not the openers themselves who have been costing the Brewers in October, but rather it's what their use signals to the rest of the team. Changing up the team's strategy after they were the best team in baseball for 162 games signals that they need to play a new brand of baseball in order to compete in the playoffs rather than just stick to what was successful throughout the season. It signals that their strategy during the regular season, the one that led them to the top overall seed in the National League, was not good enough to compete with the Dodgers. Whether or not that's true, the shift in mindset can be detrimental in a sport of failure like baseball that relies heavily on confidence.

There are a number of reasons for the Brewers’ lack of success in the NLCS, but hearing someone like Kratz propose that managerial decisions could be impacting the team's confidence gives strength to what Brewers fans have been arguing each time the team strays from their regular season strategy and it doesn't work out in Milwaukee's favor.