How Pat Murphy took away the Cubs’ best hitter in Game 2 of the NLDS

Back on Saturday morning, before the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs embarked on their history-making NLDS matchup, Reviewing the Brew's Tremayne Person noted the one Cubs hitter that Pat Murphy's squad needed to watch out for. With eight homers in the month of September, five in the final week of the regular season, and a towering homer off of San Diego Padres' All-Star closer Robert Suárez in the NL Wild Card Series, Chicago's first baseman, Michael Busch, was clearly the Cubs' hottest hitter entering the NLDS.

In immediate fashion, Person's warning became a reality, as Busch rocked a leadoff homer off of Brewers' ace Freddy Peralta in Game 1 of the NLDS, giving him seven total longballs in his last 12 games played. Yes, Seiya Suzuki, who has been Chicago's second-best hitter during this year's postseason, showcased his power with a three-run homer in the first inning of Monday night's game, but if there was one Cubs' hitter to target with unfavorable pitching matchups in Game 2, it was clearly Busch.

As a result, Murphy turned to southpaw Aaron Ashby to open Game 2 in an effort to neutralize Busch's left-handed power bat atop Craig Counsell's lineup; Busch maintained a meager .642 OPS against lefties throughout the 2025 regular season, compared to his .910 OPS against right-handers. The Cubs' manager countered his former bench coach's move by starting veteran right-handed bat, Justin Turner, at first base instead of Busch, electing to play matchup, as Turner carried a .759 OPS against southpaws this season.

However, Murphy's strategy of combating the threat that Busch poses at the plate didn't stop there; it continued throughout Monday's late-night victory.

Michael Busch collected just one at-bat against a right-handed pitcher in Game 2 of the NLDS

Ashby retired Turner on a lazy fly ball to left fielder Jackson Chourio to begin last night's game. While Ashby faced some trouble later in the inning, with the aforementioned three-run homer from Suzuki casting a dark cloud over an otherwise exceptional performance from the Brewers' pitching staff, Murphy elected to keep his lefty reliever in the game for the second inning.

With Turner's spot in the order due up fourth in the second frame, and Ashby allowing a walk to Matt Shaw with two outs in the inning, Murphy realized that he could keep Busch out of the game for one more at-bat by sticking with his left-hander for one more batter. Turner ended up hitting a single to left field, to put runners on first and second, which immediately prompted Murphy to go his "fireman" Nick Mears to extinguish the Cubs' flames. Mears did so quickly, getting Nico Hoerner to fly out to right field, and with two innings down, Chicago's best hitter was still riding the pine.

The leadoff spot in the Cubs' order didn't come up again until there were two outs in the fourth inning, at which point Jacob Misiorowski was settled in to his surprise outing. At long last, Counsell could use his left-handed weapon, Busch, with a right-hander on the mound. But it wasn't just any right-hander, it was playoff Miz, and the Brewers flamethrowing rookie made quick work of Busch, getting him to fly out to left field on the second pitch of the at-bat.

Busch didn't come to the plate again until the seventh inning, and who was throwing for the Brew Crew at that time? Southpaw Jared Koenig, who poses an uncomfortable at-bat for any left-handed hitter. Busch hit a sharp ground ball, but right at the Brewers' first baseman, Andrew Vaughn; he and Koenig combined for an impressive put-out at first base.

That was it. Those were the only two at-bats that Busch collected in Game 2.

The only two pitches that Busch saw from a right-hander last night were 101 mph fastballs out of the hand of Misiorowski. That's how you take a team's best hitter out of the game. An absolute masterclass from the Brewers' skipper.