When the Milwaukee Brewers hired Pat Murphy in November 2023, nobody called it a blockbuster move. He was the bench coach who had spent eight years learning every wire in that dugout. Three seasons later, Milwaukee has a franchise-record 103 wins in 2026 — the best mark in the majors that year — and just punched their ticket to the first World Series since 1982.
Three seasons, three division titles, two hardware stops
In 2024, his first full year at the helm, Murphy guided the Brewers to a 93-69 record and the NL Central title by 10 games over the Cardinals and Cubs. No manager in franchise history had ever won Manager of the Year. Murphy did it in his debut season.
In 2025 he went further: 97-65, the best record in all of MLB that year, a second straight division crown, and a second straight Manager of the Year. Only Bobby Cox (2004–05) and Kevin Cash (2020–21) had won it in back-to-back years before him. The BBWAA gave Murphy 27 of 30 first-place votes, a runaway over Terry Francona and Rob Thomson. The season ended in the NLCS, where the Dodgers swept them in four games.
2026 was a different story entirely. Milwaukee finished the regular season 103-59 with a +214 run differential — a franchise record that beats the 1982 club’s mark by 50 runs. Murphy now owns the highest winning percentage (.603) of any Brewers manager with at least one full season on the job.
The sweep nobody expected to happen this fast
In the 2026 postseason, Milwaukee swept the San Diego Padres in the NLDS. Then came the Dodgers — the same team that had ended their season a year earlier — and this time the script flipped. The Brewers jumped out to a 3-0 series lead in the NLCS and closed the sweep on October 15 with a 6-4 win in Game 4, erasing a four-run deficit to do it.
The last time Milwaukee played in the World Series was 1982, back when they were still an American League franchise. Forty-four years. Murphy got them there in three seasons.
The numbers tell the story cleanly: in three years, Murphy has collected two Manager of the Year awards, three 90-plus-win seasons, three playoff appearances, two NLCS trips, and one World Series berth. That’s the kind of résumé that usually takes a decade to build.
Why it matters that Murphy came from within
It’s not a small detail that Murphy spent eight seasons as Milwaukee’s bench coach before taking the job. He knew the roster, the minor-league system, the clubhouse culture. When Craig Counsell left for the Cubs in November 2023, the Brewers didn’t chase a big name — they promoted the man who already knew where every switch was.
That continuity paid off in a straight line. Milwaukee didn’t rebuild or tank after Counsell walked out the door. They accelerated. With the same core of players Murphy already knew inside and out, the Brewers rattled off three consecutive division titles.
The World Series hasn’t started yet. But what Pat Murphy has already built in Milwaukee carries its own weight, whatever happens next.
