Brewers skipper Pat Murphy deploys football analogy to explain creative lineup switch ahead of playoffs

It is also true, however, that Turang has turned himself into something of a power hitter, or at least a bat perfectly capable of slotting into the three spot in Murphy’s lineup. Fueled by an outrageous August, he finished second on the Brewers with 81 RBIs. His 18 dingers ranked third behind Yelich (29) and Chourio (21).

Collins was not a frequent one-hole choice anyway. In September, he went through a .195 slump and has not even played every day. Murphy often opted for center fielder Blake Perkins in his place, allowing Chourio to play his natural position in right.

Frelick seems like an obvious option but Yelich is a better all-around hitter. In this day and age, lineups built purely around fit are valued less than maximizing at-bats for the order’s best threats. There is a reason Shohei Ohtani leads off the Dodgers.

In the Brewers’ case, there could also be the advantage of throwing off the opposition off guard. Teams don’t have a full season to analyze what changes in approach, if any, Yelich deploys in the lead off spot. It also confronts pitchers with a power threat – something Frelick is not – right off the bat.

“It’s like anything else, you don’t put in all your trick plays until the end of preparations, right. You don’t open football camp in July and start throwing the flea flicker. You wait and wait and wait. Now it’s time. If you can get there. Trick plays are only used if you can get to that position,” Murphy said.

Another consideration: the Brewers offense as a whole had been struggling to produce runs for some time when Murphy made the switch. The last month of the regular season saw Milwaukee bats cool across the board. Maybe batting Yelich lead off was just a way to shake things up. He has experience there in his career, just not this season before the San Diego series.

“I had a couple of other people mention it to me, and I was like, you know, ‘I’ve been saying I’m going to do that, let’s see what that looks like,” Murphy added. “Let’s see how that feels.’ Yeli is so much of a team guy, he’s willing to help any way he can.”

According to McCalvy, Murphy indicated that putting the team’s most reliable bat there could be about protecting Joey Ortiz, the everyday No. 9 hitter. Despite showing flashes here and there, Ortiz never got off the ground at the plate this season, finishing with an abysmal .230/.276/.317 slash line. Whoever hits lead off, expect a lot of pinch-hitting in Ortiz’s spot in the postseason.