What’s the mood like in the Brewers clubhouse? Rhys Hoskins had this to say
The Brewers have been on an upswing since the All-Star Game, so what’s the mood like in the Brewers locker room? Rhys Hoskins had this to say.
Pat Murphy didn’t like what he saw from his club against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night.
“I’ve never seen such a reaction from our young players,” Murphy said after the 5-2 loss. “I’ve never seen such a strong moment from our young players.”
Tuesday evening offered nothing else.
The Brewers suffered a 7-2 loss to the Dodgers at American Family Field. Colin Rea allowed four home runs in the first four innings and the offense managed just 1 of 7 runs with runners in scoring position in a one-sided affair that represents the latest episode of Hollywood’s dominance in the small market of the major leagues.
Murphy compared Monday’s game against the Dodgers to swimming with sharks, saying his young hitters were a little too scared to jump in the water against future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw. The at-bats later that night against rookie Gavin Stone weren’t much better.
RESULT: Dodgers 7, Brewers 2
“That’s it,” Murphy said. “If you want to swim with the sharks, you have to be willing to step up in those situations and forget who’s on the mound. It’s baseball. Pitch by pitch. I’m not disappointed in any of the guys. I’m not mad or anything. I just felt like we didn’t have the right mental attitude for the situations.”
After Stone allowed just one run through five innings, Murphy said the Brewers’ approaches, especially the left-handed hitters, “are not going to work.” That’s not exactly what you want to see or hear about a team that has seen through you and could be a postseason opponent down the road.
“After that great group of games last week, we seem to be faltering a little bit,” Murphy said.
Dodgers have owned Brewers in recent years
The Dodgers are strong, there’s no doubt about that. You only have to look at the top players in their lineup — Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman — to see that almost all of the damage done to Rea came from the bottom of the lineup.
But the regular season standings show that they haven’t been far above the Brewers in any other class over the past few seasons; since 2021, the Brewers have actually spent more days in first place than LA.
For whatever reason, both teams’ games were largely uncompetitive.
With Tuesday’s loss, the Brewers fell to 13-26 against the Dodgers dating back to the 2018 National League Championship Series. They are 2-7-1 in series games – a loss on either of the next two nights would mark their eighth losing series – and have not won a single series since May 2021 or a season series since 2014.
Los Angeles has outscored Milwaukee (185-124) during this period with 63 home runs hit and more games with multiple home runs than games without multiple home runs.
“They’re really, really good,” Murphy replied when asked about his team’s difficulties in this matchup. “You can find reasons for it, but they arguably have the three best players in the game to open the game.” In the game. And they’ve played well against us so far. They’ve played well. Is that because of whatever it is? They don’t get into too many dips in form.”
A cynic would observe the Brewers’ struggles against the Dodgers – who are consistently the best team in baseball – and draw a direct connection between them and their inability to beat other top contenders in the playoffs since 2018.
But more likely, this is baseball, that most unpredictable of games. And beneath the surface of this Dodger dominance lies the possibility that maybe, just maybe, it doesn’t mean all that much. Or it might mean nothing at all.
Reverse the script in October?
It’s entirely possible that the Brewers could play better than the Dodgers – or any other playoff team – for one week in October.
That’s really all that’s needed, even if the results don’t look great at the moment.
But the way most games against the Dodgers have gone in recent years shows that it won’t be easy.
“It’s tough because that’s how it’s going to be from now on,” said outfielder Sal Frelick. “You want to compete against the best. I think we’re right there and we’re going to find out soon.”
It is time for the Brewers to take their first steps into the matter.
