Brewers manager Pat Murphy keeps rewriting the answers as Christian Yelich and William Contreras struggle at the plate

Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy is spending more time than usual on the small, repeatable decisions that shape an at-bat. According to a Brewers report from, Murphy has been drawing up batting orders during the day, photographing the notes, and texting them to a member of the coaching staff named Evan Martin, whose title is game preparation specialist. The names that keep showing up in Murphy’s scribbles are Christian Yelich and William Contreras, two cornerstone hitters who, at least in the most recent stretch, have not been able to solve the batters’-ball part of the equation.

The purpose of the daily work is not to abandon the players or simply swap them out of lineups. Instead, Murphy and his staff are trying to identify what kind of lineup construction, approach, and situational use can get those hitters back on track against the opposition they are facing. frames it as Murphy “running out of answers” and Contreras “out of their funks,” language that captures the frustration of trying to reset offensive timing and confidence when results are not coming.

Martin’s role points to how granular modern hitting adjustments can be. The game preparation specialist is brought into the process so the coaching staff can react quickly to matchup details, sequencing, and the day-to-day realities of pitching plans. In that setting, the napkin-or-scrap-of-paper routine is less about theatrics and more about the speed at which a manager can translate concerns into something actionable for hitters at the next level of the plan.

Yelich and Contreras are not fringe bats. They are among the Brewers’ most recognizable offensive threats, which is part of what makes the current plate struggles matter so much. When a lineup includes established hitters who are not producing the way the team expects, every other spot in the order has to compensate, and the club’s ability to manufacture runs gets tighter. The Brewers’ challenge becomes twofold, improving performance without destabilizing the players’ roles, and doing it while opponents are studying tendencies inning by inning.

For Contreras in particular, characterizes the moment as being stuck in a rut. That kind of slump can be stubborn because it involves more than one mechanical detail. Hitters often have to fight through timing issues, pitch selection habits, and the confidence that follows or fails to follow contact. When the problem persists, even strong scouting and strong preparation can feel like it should have produced a turn, and that is where the emotional weight of “running out of answers” lands for a manager who is still responsible for getting the lineup to perform.

The bigger context is postseason positioning. Although the report is written in-game and focuses on what is happening with specific hitters, the implication for the organization is straightforward. As the calendar shifts toward October, the margin for error shrinks, and the Brewers can’t afford prolonged stretches where key bats are stuck. Murphy’s constant tinkering suggests Milwaukee is trying to manufacture a breakthrough through planning and repeated iteration rather than waiting passively for a natural correction.