Brewers Manager Pat Murphy Announces Back, Hip Surgeries as Milwaukee Braces for the Stretch
Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy is having his back and his hip operated on. He told the team. He told the public. He is not stepping aside.
Murphy announced over the weekend that he will undergo two procedures this offseason but will continue managing through the second half. The 67-year-old skipper made it clear that the health issues will not pull him out of the dugout for the rest of the regular season.
This is classic Murphy. The reigning Manager of the Year said little, kept it light, and told reporters he plans to be at the ballpark every day until the doctors say otherwise.
What This Means for Milwaukee
The Brewers are deep into a tough season. They are in the wild card race and need every game over the next 90. Murphy missing time is not the kind of thing they can afford. The plan, as currently described, is for the surgeries to happen after the year. He gets through the season first.
That is also the version of this story that has to make the front office nervous. Back surgery is not minor. Hip surgery is not minor. Doing both is a full-year recovery for most people. Murphy is going to be 67 going through it, and the Brewers cannot pretend that the timeline is normal.
Milwaukee has been the most overachieving small-market team in baseball for the last three years. Murphy took over from Craig Counsell after a difficult divorce and somehow built another winner. The Brewers play a clean brand of baseball. They develop pitchers. They steal bases. They keep showing up in October.
None of that happens without the manager. Murphy is the steadying voice in a clubhouse that turns over constantly because of payroll. He has held the room together through trade-deadline sell-offs and August surges.
The bench coach will have to step in if Murphy needs days off down the stretch. The Brewers have not announced specific games that would be a problem, but the run from late July through August is the part to watch. That is the hottest stretch of summer, the busiest travel schedule, and the most physical demand on the manager’s body.
The bigger story might be what comes after. Murphy has not committed to a long-term return. The contract runs through 2027. The Brewers will need to be honest about whether he is going to make it. If he is healthy, the team has a manager for years. If the surgeries do not heal cleanly, Milwaukee is going to have to plan for life after Murphy faster than anyone expected.
This is also a reminder of the physical toll of being an MLB manager. Long days. Long flights. Long seasons. Most managers are in their 50s or 60s. The job grinds bodies down. Murphy is the latest example.
Milwaukee will keep playing the way Murphy taught them to play. The Brewers will go to the deadline looking to add. The standings will not slow down for him. The team is built to run, and the manager is determined to ride it.
If anybody can manage through two surgeries and a pennant race at the same time, it is probably the guy who already did the impossible by following Counsell and winning anyway.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
