Pat Murphy's 2024 Manager of the Year win is poetic justice for Brewers fans

When the Milwaukee Brewers manager's chair was left empty last November following the sudden and dramatic departure of Craig Counsell to Chicago, many were left in despair wondering how this team would be led during such a critical juncture of the team's competitive cycle. Some expected a rebuild to follow.

Counsell had been widely regarded as one of, if not the best manager in the game. But despite all that, he never earned the recognition of winning Manager of the Year. Now, Counsell's successor, Pat Murphy has won the prestigious award in his first season at the helm.

Murphy won NL Manager of the Year on Tuesday night as announced on MLB Network. He won over other finalists Mike Shildt of the Padres and Carlos Mendoza of the Mets.

Brewers' Pat Murphy wins NL Manager of the Year

For all the scrappy Brewers teams in recent years, for all the low expectations, for all the blowing away of those low expectations, Milwaukee has been able to thrive by getting the most out of their talent and a lot of credit does go to the coaching staff for making all that happen. Six playoff appearances in the last seven years doesn't happen by accident.

This year's team had the lowest expectations yet. Counsell was gone, Corbin Burnes was traded, Brandon Woodruff would be out hurt all year, then Devin Williams suffered an injury in spring training. People genuinely thought the Brewers would have to rebuild and this team was going to go nowhere with their large amount of first and second year players.

Then Wade Miley was lost to injury in April, and so was Joe Ross, and Garrett Mitchell missed three months, then Robert Gasser needed elbow surgery. On top of all that, then his MVP left fielder Christian Yelich undergoes back surgery and misses the second half of the season.

Despite all of that, the 65 year old first time manager Pat Murphy got this group to believe in themselves, was able to develop them at the big league level, and get them to win 93 games and run away with the NL Central. The Brewers were the first team to clinch a playoff spot. They were the first team to clinch their division this year.

Murphy endeared himself to his players, the media, and fans alike with his personality, humor, and openness to talk about his thought process with the decisions he made. He was able to push all the right buttons with this team, help give them an identity, and push them to be better, all while providing a little humor. That makes Murphy a very deserving winner of the Brewers first ever Manager of the Year award.

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