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Milwaukee’s longest start of the year belongs to…Tobias Myers? For these Brewers, it’s actually fitting.

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5 months ago

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Milwaukee’s longest start of the year belongs to…Tobias Myers? For these Brewers, it’s actually fitting.

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DETROIT – Pat Murphy has his Milwaukee Brewers in first place by a healthy margin in the National League Central, but that doesn’t keep him from shying away from his real thoughts about his club. 

Not even after a 10-0 win. 

After the Brewers offense had staked starting pitcher Tobias Myers to a five-run lead early, the rookie right-hander issued a four-pitch walk to lead off the bottom of the third Friday night at Comerica Park. 

“If I had a taser,” Murphy said. “I would’ve tased him.”

Murphy paused.

“Good thing I didn’t. Because he wouldn’t have gone eight (innings).” 

BOX SCORE: Brewers 10, Tigers 0

That’s the passion Murphy manages with for the 37-26 Brewers, who are now 6 ½ games up in the division after their dismantling of the Detroit Tigers to snap a three-game skid. 

Myers, four-pitch walk aside, matched that aggression on the mound to deliver the best start of his young career as well as the longest outing of any Brewers pitcher this year.

The 25-year-old right-hander threw eight shutout innings while allowing just one hit, a leadoff single to Matt Vierling in the bottom of the first. Myers promptly picked Vierling off and was on his way to the first eight-inning outing of his career.

And not just his professional career, either. His entire career. From Little League to the majors. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever gone eight,” Myers said. “Definitely not in pro ball. Probably the first time.”

The math checks out. It was Myers’ first time going eight innings in either the majors or minors, he didn’t go to college and regulation in high school games is seven innings.

Myers would not have been the choice of many to be the first Brewers pitcher to work into the eighth inning this year. Coming into the game, he had done a commendable job of filling in as an unlikely rotation member, making six starts with a 5.40 ERA. But, for as much chase and swing-and-miss as he had gotten, his command had been erratic both in and out of the zone. 

That led to outings like his last time out against the league-worst Chicago White Sox, where his hittable fastballs were pounded for seven hits and five runs in 4 ⅓. 

Myers had yet to complete six innings at any level – the majors or Class AAA – in 2024. 

But against the Tigers, he attacked. While he admitted his command still could have been better, he largely avoided flashing-red mistake pitches and made sure to be the aggressor. 

“I think you’re talking about somewhere around 20 out of 25 first pitch strikes,” Murphy said. “That’s crucial.”

From Myers to Murphy to pitching coach Chris Hook, catcher William Contreras was credited for getting the righty through eight innings. 

“I thought he got in a good groove,” Hook said. “To me the turning point in the game was when he picked the guy off. He got settled from that. From then it was just a good tempo. In between pitches, I think Wiliam did a fantastic job. It was just the tempo. I think we have to force that with him and that was the big thing tonight.”

Of the 27 batters he faced, Myers struck out five and walked three, meaning there were lots of balls in play. 

That’s precisely what Myers wanted. In recent games he was seeking out swing and miss too much, he thought, and trying to be too perfect rather than attacking batters, relying on his stuff and trusting his defense.

“That was one thing I got away from when I first go the call up and debuted, was it’s pitch by pitch,” Myers said. “Then the next start came around and the next start came around, and I think I got into trying to force results. Today was literally just one pitch at a time. All I was thinking about was next.”

It helped having Contreras guiding him through the outing, too. The fastball wasn’t getting any whiffs, but it was working for pop ups and called strikes when in the zone, so the Brewers catcher kept going to it, mixing in a healthy dose of sliders, too, to keep the Tigers’ eye levels off-kilter. 

And, though it’s probably for the best that the manager isn’t allowed to keep a taser in the dugout, he has a different weapon at his disposal to send the same message: Contreras’ cannon. 

“He’ll let you know if you’re not executing a pitch, which he does a really good job at,” Myers said. “And I like it. I like when he throws the ball hard back and tells you, ‘Hey let’s go. Let’s execute these pitches.’ For me, I love it. My whole time I’ve shaken him off once. One pitch, that’s it.”

Myers didn’t have any strikeouts between a called punch out of Justyn Henry-Malloy for the second out of the fifth and a Javy Baez special – a futile wave at a slider in the other batter’s box – for the second out of the eighth. 

But Myers was getting ample weak contact to make up for the swing-and-miss, something that because of his tempo, conviction and pitch location was actually a positive sign for the Brewers. 

Between Baez’s flyout in the third and the conclusion of the seventh inning, Myers induced five batted balls with an expected batting average between .000 and .040, three more under .200 and none higher than .290. 

“It’s a different look,” Myers said. “It’s coming from a different slot. Fill the zone up. Any time there’s a new guy who hasn’t been in the league that long, the first time you see him it’s always a bit difficult. Now, if that young guy who doesn’t throw strikes, he doesn’t maintain his advantage then in those situations. Situations like today, throwing strikes, it just leads to good things.”

It sure does.

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