Brewers' Manager is Also the Father of a Padres Prospect

Maren Angus-Coombs | Jun 24, 2024

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Pat Murphy's return to San Diego as the manager of the Milwaukee Brewers had a unique twist to it. His former employer signed his son, Kai Murphy, as an undrafted free agent in July 2022.

The younger Murphy is playing in Single-A Fort Wayne this year.

“I watch every at-bat,” the elder Murphy said with a smile before his Brewers played the Padres in a recent game at Petco Park.

Each spring, since Pat joined the Brewers, the Padres make sure Kai is on the trip to Maryvale whenever the team plays Milwaukee during spring training.

A special day for the Murphys!

In his first Spring Training game as Manager, Pat Murphy faced off against his son Kai with sons Austin and Jaxon in attendance pic.twitter.com/jc7hsma6p1

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) February 24, 2024

“The Padres have been unbelievable to him,” Pat Murphy said. “I mean, he raves about their organization and how they treat their minor leaguers. He’s close with Jackson. He’s close with (Graham) Pauley. He was close with (Jakob) Marsee.

“For him, it’s a home.”

Kai played collegiate baseball at Oregon State and then later for his dad's old program, Arizona State. The Padres were among the teams scouting Kai for the 2022 draft, ultimately connecting with him after he went undrafted.

Murphy hit .286/.359/.432 with five homers his junior year at ASU, went undrafted but fielded a call from Padres scouting director Chris Kemp, who quickly signed Kai. He went on to hit .357/.471/.429 in nine games in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League and forced his way to low Single-A Lake Elsinore.

Entering Saturday, the 23-year-old is hitting .229/.328/.343 with three homers, 27 RBIs and seven steals in 58 games with the TinCaps this season.