Brewers Manager Shares When Cubs Star Kyle Tucker Didn't Scare Him In Playoffs

Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy shared an interesting take about when his team wasn't "concerned" with facing Chciago Cubs star Kyle Tucker.

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The Chicago Cubs' 2025 season came to an end after a bitter defeat in Game 5 of the NLDS against their division rival Milwaukee Brewers.

It's going to sting any time a team loses to its divisional foe in the playoffs. But the tense rivalry between Chicago and Milwaukee (which stems in part from their home ballparks being less than 100 miles apart from each other) made this an even tougher pill to swallow for Cubs fans.

What's for sure is that Cubs fans were feeling optimistic about Game 5, despite it being on the road, given that Chicago produced two straight wins with their backs against the wall in Games 3 and 4.

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Ultimately, Chicago's offense fell flat in Game 5, and they lost to Milwaukee by a score of 3-1. Cubs star outfielder Kyle Tucker went 0-4 with two strikeouts in the game.

In fact, while Tuck did hit a big home run in Game 4 of the NLDS, his .745 OPS in the 2025 postseason (as opposed to his .841 OPS during the regular season) suggests he had some struggles once the playoffs began, at least relative to his normal production.

MORE: 3 Cubs Players Named Finalists For NL Silver Slugger Award

Brewers Manager Shares Interesting Stance on Facing Kyle Tucker in Playoffs

Given his pedigree, one would imagine that opposing teams always view Kyle Tucker as a threat, regardless of how he's performing at the time. But during an October 21 appearance on The Show: A NY Post baseball podcast with Joel Sherman & Jon Heyman, Brewers manager Pat Murphy shared a fascinating take about when facing Tucker wasn't a major worry.

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"If you map it out, [Aaron] Ashby, you don't want him to face the same guy. So he didn't [Michael] Busch three times. And that was what our concern would be," Murphy said when asked about how he balanced leaving a starting pitcher in as opposed to bringing in a fresh reliever to face an elite hitter on the opposing team.

"Facing Tucker three times, we weren't as concerned with that one, because Tucker wasn't on it versus left-handers [compared to] the way he was earlier in the season," he added.

One of the reasons Kyle Tucker was considered an MVP candidate in the first few months of the season was because he was dominating against left-handed pitchers.

While Tucker still ended up with a very respectable .826 OPS against lefties during the 2025 regular season, his similar .848 OPS against righties seems to be what Murphy is alluding to.

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