Counsell leads Cubs into NLDS against the Brewers, his former team, and Murphy, his old bench coach

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Craig Counsell has seen the Milwaukee Brewers-Chicago Cubs rivalry from just about every perspective.

He grew up in the Milwaukee area as the son of former Brewers director of community affairs John Counsell. He played for the Brewers and later became the team’s winningest manager before the Cubs lured him to Chicago.

So he understands particularly well the atmosphere to expect Saturday when the Brewers and Cubs open a best-of-5 NL Division Series.

“These are two cities that are close together, very close,” Counsell said. “I think each city’s residents have thoughts about each other’s residents — harmless, obviously. But yeah, so the proximity of the cities makes it fun, no doubt about it, and the proximity makes rivalries, too. And teams being good makes rivalries.”

Those rivalries also create hard feelings, which is why Counsell should expect a chorus of boos whenever his name is mentioned at American Family Field. That’s what has happened each time the Cubs have visited Milwaukee since he left the Brewers after the 2023 season.

“It’s the feeling that the fans are having,” Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta said. “Probably tomorrow it’s going to happen again, probably louder than normal.”

Counsell went 707-625 as Milwaukee manager and led the Brewers to five playoff appearances in his last six seasons before heading to Chicago. Milwaukee has since won two straight division titles under Pat Murphy, who coached Counsell at Notre Dame and served as his bench coach in Milwaukee.

Murphy says he and Counsell still chat “once a month, maybe, something like that.” Although they’re longtime friends, they have different styles.

“I think when Couns was here, they were a good complement of each other,” Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich said. “Couns is pretty cerebral about the game and more reserved, calm demeanor. And Murphy is going to tell you exactly what he’s thinking and feeling at the time. He’s not always going to say the thing that’s politically correct or that’s overly concerned about how people feel about it. That’s just who they are. They’re both successful in their own ways.”

What they have in common is a desire to downplay their roles in this series. Counsell said the novelty of managing a visiting team in Milwaukee wore off a long time ago.

“I think we’re over that part,” Counsell said. “We’re getting ready for a playoff series and trying to advance to have a chance to play in the World Series. That’s the job at hand right now, and that’s the focus right now. We’ve already done the other stuff.”

How they got here

The Brewers were 25-28 and 6 1/2 games behind the Cubs on May 24 before going 72-37 the rest of the way for the best regular-season record in franchise history. The Brewers gained sole possession of first place for good by beating the Cubs 8-4 on July 28.

Chicago went 7-6 against Milwaukee in the regular season. The Cubs advanced to this stage of the playoffs by winning an NL Wild Card Series with the San Diego Padres.

Who’s pitching?

Milwaukee’s Game 1 pitcher is Peralta, who will be facing the Cubs for a fifth time this year. The All-Star right-hander went 3-1 with a 3.43 ERA against them during the regular season. He had an overall 17-6 record with a 2.70 ERA.

The Cubs haven’t announced their Game 1 starter.

“I think we’re going into this with a couple plans,” Counsell said. “We’re going to let everybody throw today and then make a decision after that. But we’ve definitely got what we’d prefer to do.”

Megill’s return

Milwaukee’s Trevor Megill says he’s feeling fine for the postseason after returning from month-long stint on the injured list to pitch a 1-2-3 inning in the regular-season finale.

The All-Star closer says he’s open to performing in a different relief role if necessary. While Megill was recovering from his right flexor strain, Abner Uribe filled in as Milwaukee’s closer and didn’t allow a run over his last nine appearances.

“I told Murphy I’m ready for whatever inning, it doesn’t matter,” Megill said. “Let’s just win some ballgames.”

Divided crowd

Brewers-Cubs games in Milwaukee often have bowl-game atmospheres with a pretty even split of fans rooting for each team due to Chicago’s proximity.

Milwaukee outfielder Sal Frelick said he doesn’t mind the atmosphere, even if it means the Brewers don’t get the same kind of home-field edge they would have enjoyed if the Padres had advanced instead.

“I would assume it’s going to be pretty similar to when they come here (in the regular season), pretty 50-50 split,” Frelick said. “It’s a fun environment, though. That’s what you want.”

Matchup problems

Milwaukee’s Brice Turang batted .348 with a .902 OPS against the Cubs this season. William Contreras hit .298 with a .421 on-base percentage. As for Brewers who struggled against the Cubs this year, Yelich batted .170 and had 19 strikeouts in 47 at bats, while Caleb Durbin hit .167.

Chicago’s Kyle Tucker batted .314 with a .467 on-base percentage against the Brewers during the regular season. Seiya Suzuki hit .120 with 22 strikeouts in 50 at bats against Milwaukee.

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