MILWAUKEE -- Coming off a productive NLDS against the Padres, Christian Yelich was absent from the Brewers’ lineup for Game 1 of the NLCS against the Dodgers.

What gives?

Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy offered a detailed explanation when the 12-year-old Twinstripe Reporters asked that very question leading off Murphy’s pregame press conference ahead of Sunday’s Game 1. Murphy’s answer started with the pitcher on the mound for the Dodgers: left-hander Tarik Skubal.

“It's about our team and what's best for our team today,” Murphy said. “It might not be the whole game, but it's what's best for our team today. You kind of look at matchups and you look at history, and you look at how the guy pitches a guy potentially and what it could bring.

“And this kid that's playing instead of Yelich in the first part of the game [designated hitter Andrew Vaughn], he's pretty good.”

Vaughn posted an .834 OPS in 331 plate appearances during the regular season as the Brewers picked the best matchups for the right-handed-hitting first baseman. That included a .336/.421/.517 slash line against left-handers -- although Vaughn has just a .488 OPS in 23 career plate appearances against Skubal.

In a perfect world, Murphy might start Vaughn at first base, move Jake Bauers to right field and leave Yelich in the lineup as the designated hitter. But Bauers has been playing the second half of the season on a fractured right toe and shin splints, so the outfield is not a good option for him right now.

Typically on days like this during the regular season, Murphy got Yelich back into the game as soon as he could reclaim the platoon advantage.

“So, that's the weight of it all,” Murphy told the young reporters. “But as long as you tell the player early on – in case you get out of this business and get into coaching, a real business – you tell the player beforehand.”

Music lessons
Since those young reporters hail from Freehold, N.J., another native of that town came up in conversation on Sunday afternoon: Bruce Springsteen. If you’ve ever wondered why the Brewers have played “Glory Days” over the stadium speakers after victories since Murphy took over as manager, it’s because the skipper is a huge fan.

Why Bruce? There was a good story about that. And of course it involves a girl.

“I was in Florida, I was in college in 1980. I drove down in the pouring rain to the Hollywood Sportatorium because I had a person I was fond of and she wanted to go to the concert,” Murphy said. “I had a purple mail Jeep that I drove. … It's pouring rain, and I've got those doors that they slide, like the old mail trucks. There's water coming in. I'm miserable, and I'm like, ‘What am I doing?’ I don't even know if I like this girl, you know what I mean?

“He played for 5 1/2 hours. I was just amazed. It wasn't even how good the music was or bad. It was the River Tour, and it was incredible. So it sparked my interest.”

Murphy saw Springsteen again while he was head baseball coach at Notre Dame. And again a couple of years ago at Wrigley Field.

“The message just resonated,” Murphy said. “He grew up a Catholic kid in New Jersey. I was a Catholic kid from upstate New York. There's just so much that resonates with me how he speaks about things. I've had all these chances to go backstage, and I've never met him. I don't want to meet him that way. I want to meet him one-on-one. I don't know that I ever will, but I'd like to meet him one-on-one and sit and talk to him.”

That puts him in crowded company in baseball circles. Murphy has learned over the years that Hall of Famers Paul Molitor and Randy Johnson are also huge Springsteen fans.

“I'm not a connoisseur of music, necessarily, or know anything about it,” Murphy said. “I can't carry a tune or play an instrument. But this guy just speaks to me, man. I didn't grow up on that type of music, but it's just amazing.”