Where We Were Right—and Wrong—About the Brewers Through 12 Games

The Milwaukee Brewers are off to a fast start, even if they just lost their first series of the season. At 8-4, the defending National League Central champions are well on their way to another playoff berth (no jinx, we swear).

Our job at the Brewers on SI site is to spout all sorts of preseason takes and predictions, and some of them will inevitably be right and wrong. If you think 12 games is too small a sample size to judge those takes, think again.

Here were the preseason takes we still feel great about, as well as some that we'd like a do-over on.

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Jacob Misiorowski is becoming a No. 1 starter

As soon as the Brewers traded away Freddy Peralta, Misiorowski became the man of the hour in the rotation. Quinn Priester started the year on the injured list and Brandon Woodruff was always going to be a question mark because of his injury history, so the Brewers needed the second-year All-Star to step up.

Even after a brutal sixth inning on Tuesday, Misiorowski's 28 strikeouts lead all of Major League Baseball, and his eight hits allowed in 16 1/3 inning are incredibly impressive. If he can avoid self-inflicted damage, he'll be an All-Star again.

First base not a pain point without Andrew Vaughn

The Brewers were already down Jackson Chourio, so we thought they might be in a spot of trouble once Andrew Vaughn went down with a broken hamate bone. We should have known better, because Gary Sánchez and Jake Bauers are on the case.

In fairness, Bauers is hitting just .189 through 37 at-bats. But he and Sánchez are the Brewers' only players with multiple home runs to this point.

Brewers are baseball's peskiest team

Infield hits. Stolen bases. Heads-up plays of all kinds. No one enjoys playing against this Brewers team, because they play a style of baseball that demands attention to detail and quick thinking to combat.

In particular, David Hamilton has been a pleasant surprise. We knew he could swipe bases (55 in the last two seasons with the Boston Red Sox), but his on-base skills and impressive defense have been noticeable through 12 games.

Brandon Sproat hasn't hit ground running

Sproat, who slotted into Milwaukee's rotation immediately after his inclusion in the Peralta trade, has allowed 11 earned runs in 6 2/3 innings. No one else on Milwaukee's staff has allowed more than seven, either starter or reliever.

Fortunately, this one feels like something that will just take time to fix. Everyone is entitled to a slow start with a new club. But Sproat's outstanding stuff, showcased constantly in spring training, just hasn't translated yet the way we thought it might.