10 Thoughts on the Brewers' Season to Date—One for Each of Aaron Ashby's Wins

For most pitchers, reaching 10 wins is a milestone that reflects months of taking the ball every fifth day. Aaron Ashby has taken a far different path. The Brewers’ versatile left-hander became the first pitcher in Major League Baseball to reach double-digit victories in 2026, despite working out of the bullpen, turning timely appearances and shutdown innings into one of the season’s most unlikely storylines. While wins are hardly the definitive measure of pitching success, Ashby’s perfect 10-0 record has become a fascinating subplot in Milwaukee’s season and provides the perfect excuse to revisit 10 memorable moments, fun facts, and questions from the Brewers' campaign so far.

No. 1 – Opening Day Excellence
The Brewers pitching staff started off the season with a bang. Jacob Misorowski, Ashby, Grant Anderson, DL Hall, and Jake Woodford combined for 20 strikeouts, tied for the major-league record in a standard nine inning game, while the offense amassed 14 runs on 12 hits. It was a tone-setter for the year and a sign of great things to come for Milwaukee.

No. 2 – Brewers Reach 40 Wins in Only 63 Games 
The Brewers have set a lot of records so far this year, but the most impressive may be that no other Brewers team has ever reached 40 wins in their first 63 games. It is a testament to all the players and coaches that have contributed to this season so far, and if this keeps going, they'll top the franchise high for regular-season wins set by the team last year, at 97. Time will tell if this squad can keep it up, but all signs point to that with an offense third in runs scored, a young rotation with the lowest FIP in the league, and a great manager at the helm in Pat Murphy.

No. 3 – Starting Rotation First in FIP, Less Career Starts Than MLB Notables
Milwaukee’s young rotation has been dominant throughout the first part of the season, with Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison leading the charge. Just how young is this rotation, though? Well, combining the 5 current starters (Misiorowski, Harrison, Robert Gasser, Brandon Sproat, and Shane Drohan) gives you 110 career starts. Add in the veteran of the staff, Brandon Woodruff, who should be back with the big-league club soon, and you get 243 career MLB starts. That's still far fewer than these high-profile arms all by themselves: Justin Verlander (556), Max Scherzer (480), former Brewer Jose Quintana (366) and Gerrit Cole (322). This hopefully shows just how good a position the Brewers’ rotation is in, now and for the future.

No. 4 - Miz’s Maddux 
Misiorowski struck out 15 in a 95-pitch complete-game shutout against the Phillies last Friday. It was the most strikeouts in a Maddux ever, topping Tarik Skubal and Clayton Kershaw, who had 13 each. He threw the fastest pitch ever recorded by a starting pitcher (104.5 MPH) to Kyle Schwarber in the first inning, and in the end, he only surrendered only one hit to Schwarber in the top of the fourth. It was one of the greatest pitching performances in baseball history. Games like this are proof that the Miz is one of the best pitchers in baseball, if not the best.

No. 5 – First Base Platoon Is Working
The Brewers are currently 8th in the league in fWAR at first base. Much of this is due to Jake Bauers, who carried the load while Andrew Vaughn was out with an injury. Both are playing at very high levels, with Bauers slashing .270/.372/.507 in 250 plate appearances and Vaughn hitting .354/.429/.535 in 112 plate appearances. Both guys have been great so far and will be needed as middle-of-the-order bats down the stretch for the Brewers.

No. 6 – 182
That’s the number of pitches it takes an individual to scroll on the pitch velocity by a starter leaderboard until you find a player (Jared Jones of the Pittsburgh Pirates) who isn’t Misiorowski. His five hardest-thrown balls came in his last start against the Phillies. He may have been a little fired up due to their comments about his All-Star appearance last season. Overall, this is just another example of how elite Misiorowski is; expect this number to grow further as the season goes along. Get your Blink-182 jokes in this morning.

No. 7 – Youth Impact Here and Growing?
Cooper Pratt recorded his first MLB hit, run scored, RBI, and stolen base Wednesday night against the Guardians. Called up as the corresponding move for the DFA’d Luis Rengifo, Pratt may signal a movement of calling up young prospects to replace struggling veterans. Players such as Jett Williams or the recently extended Luis Lara could contribute down the stretch for the Brewers if struggling veterans like Sal Frelick keep their performance up from this year. Even without having yet leaned into that possibility, though, Milwaukee is the fifth-youngest team in baseball, proving that their ability now may not be the ceiling for this team.

No. 8 – Turang’s Continued Development
A two-homer day on April 12 against the Nationals signified a new, more powerful version of Brice Turang. He’s slashing .266/.381/.472 with 11 home runs and has been worth 2.8 fWAR, most in baseball for a second baseman. He is firmly in contention to start the All-Star game for the National League at second base, despite struggling in May (.231/.355/.363). He deserves it for providing a steadying presence while the Brewers dealt with injuries to Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio, and Vaughn. Turang has turned himself into one of the more exciting players in baseball to watch, while still being a consistent offensive presence for a team that desperately needed it to start the year. 

No. 9 – Milwaukee Struck Gold Again
The trade of Caleb Durbin to the Red Sox before the season was surprising to many, but it has continued to pay dividends for the Brewers this year. Kyle Harrison was the main piece of the package for Durbin, and he has been electric, pitching to a 2.47 ERA (3.05 FIP) in 65 2/3 innings. Harrison surpassed CC Sabathia (1.59) for the lowest ERA through 10 starts with the Brewers, before having his numbers rudely inflated by a visit to Las Vegas. Shane Drohan, the other pitcher acquired from Boston, has been solid as well, pitching in 14 games (4 starts) with a 3.59 ERA (2.72 FIP) in 42 2/3 innings. The lone position player acquired, David Hamilton, hasn’t been great at the plate this year (76 OPS+), but he does currently lead the team in stolen bases with 15.

No. 10 – Can Ashby Catch Roy Face?
Who is Roy Face, you ask? Well, he holds the record for most wins in a single season by a reliever, with 18 back in 1959 for the Pirates. Can Ashby top that? The conservative, realistic answer is no, but hey, wouldn’t that just fit who the Brewers are as a team? Ashby has the most appearances so far this season, so why not him? Who knows if it’ll happen, but it would be cool. He's on pace to sail past Face, so for a while, at least, we're all allowed to keep dreaming on this.

Whether Ashby finishes with 10 wins or somehow chases down Face’s seemingly untouchable record, his season has already become one of the most unique stories in baseball. More importantly, it reflects what has made the 2026 Brewers so much fun to watch: unexpected contributors, a fearless young pitching staff, savvy roster moves, and stars emerging everywhere. From Misiorowski’s historic dominance to Jake Bauer’s breakout and Kyle Harrison’s immediate impact, this team has produced a ton of memorable moments. Ashby’s perfect record may have inspired this list, but it’s the collective effort of a talented and exciting roster that has Milwaukee positioned for what could be a truly special season.