NL WILD CARD SERIES: METS VS BREWERS

October 3, 2024

Pat Murphy

American Family Field

Milwaukee Brewers

Pregame Press Conference

Q. When I asked Sal and Joey this -- I was asking them about when they realized Tobias could be a key contributor, and they mentioned that first start when he gave up the home run the first pitch and how he quickly regrouped.

Beyond that, just what you saw in his approach and his personality that's enabled him to be as successful as he's been?

PAT MURPHY: The kid has been nothing short of amazing for a season. Look at his past, look at his history. How can you predict this?

He's the ultimate teammate and has proven to be a great competitor. This is a tall task to go out in this thing, but he's always been about the team, so I feel very confident.

Q. In a lot of Tobias' starts in the regular season, it's taken him an inning to really get into that 93, 95 range with the fastball.

PAT MURPHY: No doubt.

Q. In a game like this, how important is it for him to come out of the chute with his best stuff? Do you think the adrenaline boost of a winner take all game could help with that?

PAT MURPHY: I think so. I don't think we're going to struggle with that, I really don't. There won't be a lackluster. A lot of times when you're super nervous, it kind of takes over your body. Your emotions take over your body, and your release point isn't quite the same, everything isn't great, so you end up trying to just guide it in there. But we're going to find out.

Q. Murph, you famously went out and talked to Tobias in the outfield before his first career start. I don't know if we've ever asked you though if that's something you had done previously, or was that like the only time you've ever done that? Was that something you did in college?

PAT MURPHY: I don't remember, to be quite frank with you. But I did it in Pittsburgh, and I thought I could do it unobtrusively. Obviously that's a pretty good word for me, unobtrusively. That's pretty good. It's an SAT word that I got wrong, among others.

Yeah, I thought I could be unobtrusive about it, but I guess it wasn't. We have some crackerjack news people, media people that picked up on it.

No, I just thought I'd give him a little message before.

Q. We've heard you last the couple days, players the last couple days talk about responding, and you guys have done that quite a bit this year. Obviously talent and skill plays something into that, but where does response come from?

PAT MURPHY: You reach down and you -- if you're a relentless competitor, you reach down and say, okay, it's time. There's no -- my team needs me. There's no time to sulk and say what could have been or what should have been or why did this guy do that? It's just reach down and stand up again.

It's not how many times you get knocked down, it's how many times you get up.

Q. Seeing Quintana once again, I mean, for the 9,000th time, it seems like sometimes, but for your team having seen him in a game, so much history, and on the back end of that for Turang, given how many reps you guys gave him against lefties at the end of the season and to see him reward you, what does that tell you about his mindset and how that helps you shake out your lineup against lefties?

PAT MURPHY: Turang has been as good as arguably anybody on the field for some time right now. He's had a good season. He's established himself as an everyday Big Leaguer. I believe he's a Gold Glover. I don't make those selections, but he's been tremendous for us. He's a catalyst.

Yeah, I've got great respect for this guy pitching. I've seen him a bunch, all different scenarios. I just know I respect the heck out of him the way he's an ultimate pitcher, holds runners, fields his position, does all the things that I love in a pitcher.

Yeah, I've always inquired what his availability was any time he's -- he seems like the right person, the whole thing. So I've got great respect for him.

Q. Sometimes you get to the third game of a series and the bullpen's a little tattered, but maybe because of Aaron Civale, do you feel like you're in pretty good shape going into tonight's game? And if you were to move on, would Civale get the ball first in the next round? Do you have to plan for that?

PAT MURPHY: I haven't looked ahead, to be quite honest with you. We've got to see what happens today in terms of our pitching, and I think it's all hands on deck today. Frankie Montas stopped in the office and said I'm good to go, that kind of mentality.

I don't think it's practical, but at the same time, it's good to know. Yeah, I feel like we'll assess it right after the game, and if all goes well, then we'll see what we have for the next game we play.

Q. After Devin Williams came back this year, you never used him for more than one inning. Is that something you want to stay away from, including in the playoffs, or is that --

PAT MURPHY: No, it's open game right now, open game. He wants to pitch when he's needed.

Q. And what is your perception of the Mets and their pitching staff, the state of their pitching staff?

PAT MURPHY: They're good. They've got Quintana. They've got Peterson. They've got Garrett. They've got Stanek. They've got the lefty, Young. They've got Buttó, who pitched the first game so effectively, and they've got the guy at the end, Diaz. So I think they're in better shape than they've been the first two days.

Q. Offensively, you've gotten by without major contributions from Willy and from Rhys, your veteran pillars. But how much is just their quality at-bat, even a power threat still impacting the game? Obviously just their ability to deliver at any moment.

PAT MURPHY: Yeah, that's it. They're mentally strong, and it's like you have a three-game series, you might not get the pitches you need to hit, or you might have overcooked one. You overcook one, so you roll it over. You might not get another opportunity because of the nature of those games. So you can't really judge everybody by numbers in this deal.

Yeah, they're still threats, and whether they haven't got a hit or have got a hit, it's just all about what they present in the box and what they're capable of.

Q. When I asked about Tobias, you called him the ultimate teammate. Why is he that? Any examples of just kind of how he became that ultimate teammate?

PAT MURPHY: Super selfish, just cares about himself, doesn't communicate with others, isn't willing to listen -- all the opposite of that.

Q. I know you said last night that it might have been a sleepless night for you. How are you feeling personally?

PAT MURPHY: Last night?

Q. Yeah, last night after the game, you might not be getting a lot of sleep.

PAT MURPHY: Oh, I watched a cool Adam Sandler movie. What's the one about the wedding?

No, not Kevin James. It's like this week is the wedding. Adam Sandler wedding.

THE MODERATOR: The one with Chris Rock? I don't remember the name, but I know the movie you're talking about. I'll find out while you're answering the question.

PAT MURPHY: Week Of, yeah, watched that last night. Mr. Deeds is another underrated one. You like Deeds?

Q. Great, great movie.

PAT MURPHY: How about the guy?

Q. Butler? Black foot?

PAT MURPHY: That's beautiful. Underrated. I think we need to spend more time talking about it, sorry.

Q. A bit sneaky, obviously.

PAT MURPHY: Sneaky, sneaky.

Q. It seems like you're in a good mood. How are you feeling entering this game? This has got to be a cool position for you to be in?

PAT MURPHY: I'm nervous. I'm all the things you'd expect. There's a lot going on, a lot going on with our team, a lot going on with people, and this is fun for me. To sit in front of you guys, actually -- where do you get to go other than therapy? Where do you get to go where people are actually interested in what you've got to say?

(Laughter).

Sometimes not in therapy. Yeah, it doesn't really matter how you feel, it's how you're going to behave. I'm good, man. I'm grateful, grateful.

Q. And we're not charging you hundreds of dollars an hour for the therapy either.

Tell me about Tobias Myers and his journey here. He pitched for a bunch of organizations. In '22, it looked like he had a really rough year in Triple-A. What did the Brewers unlock in him that he hadn't found before?

PAT MURPHY: I think he's found a home. I think he's found an organization that really can project that he's going to be a Major Leaguer. They brought him to Major League Spring Training two years now, I think. If he didn't get brought to the one two years ago, he spent a lot of time in it.

This year he didn't spend so much time in it. He was optioned back to the Minor Leagues on March 10th, but I think he sensed -- it's also what the player did. It's not really so much what we did, it's what the player did. He said, okay, it's time. And if I get an opportunity, I'm going to make the most of it, and he sure did.

I think he deserves the credit for making that adjustment, like, hey, my career is going nowhere, what do I do? I don't know that there was a whole bunch of specific things that we did. We recognized some good things and encouraged him to continue that. I think it's mostly about what he did for himself.

There's timing too. When a competitor decides, okay, I'm going to take this leap, I'm in. It doesn't always have to be somebody else giving you that. It could be I'm going to take the leap, and hopefully my opportunity comes. I think that's probably what happened.

Q. Sal was talking just about your message of winning tonight. How important is that tonight when you've got to kind of manage those emotions of this not only being a winner take all, but still kind of maybe riding on that high from last night?

PAT MURPHY: It's important to be in the now. It's important to be present today. This pitch, this game, and then okay, that's over, next pitch. Really hard. It is mentally tough to do that, but that's the challenge. That's mental toughness.

All of us, whether we act like it or we're soft-spoken or whatever, all of us can access mental toughness, and that's what I asked them to do, access that mental toughness. No matter what the score is, no matter what the situation is, we've got an opportunity to be right here, right now for this pitch. Let's do the appropriate thing and meet the game halfway.

If it's a strike, then it's your opportunity to go clip it somewhere, maybe nine inches in front and it goes real good. Or it's a ball and I'm not going to swing at it. Or it's a fringy pitch, and I'm not going to swing at it. All those things require you to be in now to be sound.

If you're only thinking about yourself, you'll trip over yourself. If you're not looking down in front of you and being in that present step, you might step in a pothole. If your eyes are up on the prize, the result, you break your ankle in the pothole.

It's about that. Win tonight.