Aug 2, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy (49) stands in the dugout before a game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images

How Brewers Turned 2025 Season Into Outlier, Per Insider

Originally posted on Milwaukee Brewers on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Aug 18, 2025 12:00 PM ET

The Milwaukee Brewers weren't supposed to be as good as they have been this year.

That at least was the overwhelming sentiment heading into the 2025 season. The Brewers were looked down upon once again. This isn't uncommon when it comes to Milwaukee. The Brewers are perennial underdogs no matter what the club does the year prior.

Last year, the Brewers won 93 games. They lost Willy Adames and traded Devin Williams away and didn't do much outside of that during the offseason. Some projected this team to finish in last place in the division. That was pretty surprising seeing how the Brewers have consistently been the top team in the division for years now. But, small market teams still catch low expectations without big, flashy moves. That, at least is the case in Milwaukee.

The Brewers have been strategic throughout the season and have made a few additions, like Quinn Priester, Andrew Vaughn, and most recently Shelby Miller. The Brewers have hit their additions out of the park. Milwaukee lost on Sunday to snap a 14-game winning streak, but still have a 78-45 record. The Detroit Tiger and Toronto Blue Jays are the closest teams to Milwaukee in wins at 73.

Milwaukee is a juggernaut and does things differently than seemingly every other team. In fact, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal called this Brewers team an outlier.

How Brewers do things differently than other MLB teams

"The Brewers are an outlier, exploiting a new market inefficiency – knowing how to play baseball," Rosenthal said. "They obsess over little things, in part, because they generally do not pay for superstars who do big things. Most Brewers make too little money and possess too little service time to defy their detail-oriented leader, manager Pat Murphy. And the team’s highest-paid player, left fielder Christian Yelich, practices what Murphy preaches, inspiring his teammates to do the same.

"Murphy, who seems destined to be the first skipper to win back-to-back Manager of the Year awards since Bobby Cox in 2004 and ’05, can get away with pulling two regulars off the field, as he did on April 26 with outfielder Sal Frelick (for missing a cutoff man) and third baseman Caleb Durbin (for getting picked off)."

The Brewers seemingly can do no wrong right now. What a difference a few months make, huh?

This article first appeared on Milwaukee Brewers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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