While it's still very, very early in the 2026 MLB season, the Milwaukee Brewers enter into it with a lot of hopes and dreams.

They nearly reached the pinnacle of the baseball world last season. Milwaukee found itself, though, on the outside looking in as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Brewers in the National League Championship Series.

Now, it's a new season, and Milwaukee has aspirations of improving upon their 2025 performance.

Will it happen, though? Just a few days ago, ESPN put out its lengthy MLB preseason rankings. The media outlet went to great lengths when previewing how all 30 MLB clubs will stack up against each other. Milwaukee finds itself in the No. 11 spot.

Based on their predictive measures, ESPN believes that the Brewers will finish this season with an 83-79 record. That would be a 14-game decrease from 2025's 97-win mark.

ESPN baseball writer Jorge Castillo raised the flag on paying attention to Brewers starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski. That's a good idea, especially in light of Misiorowski's 11-strikeout showing against the Chicago White Sox on Opening Day.

"Misiorowski was a captivating story during the Brewers' 97-win campaign with his electric stuff and unassuming demeanor as a rookie," Castillo wrote. "He was dominant at times thanks to a fastball that averaged 99.3 mph, and he allowed two earned runs over 12 postseason innings."

Castillo pointed out, though, that Misiorowski showed signs of being inconsistent in the 2025 MLB season's second half. Castillo rightly also said that Misiorowski is a key part of the Brewers' rotation after Milwaukee traded away Freddy Peralta.

ESPN's Bradford Doolittle believes that Brewers manager Pat Murphy will win a third straight National League Manager of the Year award. That's not a stretch since Murphy has been in the driver's seat for the team's success in the past two seasons.

Then, Alden Gonzalez of ESPN indicated that, while the Brew Crew can have a role in October baseball, there's going to need to be more home runs from the lineup.

"It's really hard to contend in this era without hitting homers, and that continues to be the Brewers' challenge," Gonzalez wrote.

"We know they'll pitch well and play great defense, and that, along the way, a handful of their players will outperform expectations," he wrote. "But despite an underwhelming offseason, they need to find a little more slug."

Can the Brewers equal or better their 2025 win total? Or, will the franchise slip and not be able to reach its lofty goals this season?

There's plenty of time to see how all of this plays out.

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