Jacob Misiorowski's hilarious interview proves William Contreras' leadership expertise

The Milwaukee Brewers are off to a strong start to open the 2026 season. The Crew swept the Chicago White Sox, dominating the first two games of the season's opening series, before needing to rally for a come-from-behind win in Sunday's matinee. Though they dropped last night's series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Brewers' 3-1 record is a vast improvement from last year's 0-4 start.

Over the first three games of the campaign, Milwaukee's offense was firing on all cylinders, scoring 14 runs on Opening Day, six on Saturday, and nine -- thanks to a six-run eighth inning -- in Sunday's win. When a team's offense is clicking at that level, they aren't going to lose many games.

However, while the offense rightfully grabs the headlines, the defense and pitching are doing their part as well. On Opening Day, despite a lead-off home run, Milwaukee allowed just one additional run -- Munetaka Murakami's first career home run -- on their path to 27 outs. In Saturday's win, a second Murakami solo shot was the only dent Chicago could make in the Brewers' pitching staff.

Sunday was a bit more hectic, as rookie Brandon Sproat had a rough go of things in his Brewers debut, giving up seven runs in just three innings of work. Once he exited the game, however, the Brewers' bullpen tossed six scoreless frames to close out the contest.

While the Brewers pitching staff certainly deserves its flowers for the shutdown effort, there is a common denominator to the success that doesn't get enough credit: the relationship that William Contreras has with the Brewers' pitching staff. "Wild Bill" got the first two starts behind the dish before Milwaukee turned to Jeferson Quero for his MLB debut on Sunday. However, both Gary Sánchez and Contreras rotated in at catcher in later innings of the series finale, making it a rare instance where three separate players appeared behind the dish in one game.

While the early runs on Sunday are not the fault of Quero, as Sproat struggled to locate his pitches, it does go to show the calming presence Contreras provides the staff. That presence was once again on display in last night's game against the Rays, when Contreras guided Kyle Harrison through his Brewers' debut. Though the Brewers ended up losing the game -- their first loss of the year -- Harrison turned in an excellent five-inning debut, during which he surrendered just one run and struck out eight.

While every relationship is different, Jacob Misiorowski had a hilarious answer to a question during an in-game interview on Saturday night, that highlighted just how good of a leader Contreras truly is.

William Contreras can tell Jacob Misiorowski to "Figure Your S*** Out" without saying a single word

With the newer rules emphasizing pace of play, mound visits have been reduced, so that the catcher and pitching coach aren't constantly going out to discuss strategy with the pitcher or to calm them down in an adverse situation. Occasionally, the manager will go out and talk to his guy instead of the pitching coach, as Pat Murphy did with Sproat after giving up a grand slam in the first inning before recording an out. On other occasions, the pitching coach may notice a mechanics tweak that can be addressed between innings. Yet, sometimes, it can be as simple as a subtle (or not so subtle) throw from the catcher to get a guy back on track.

Fans may realize that not every toss from Contreras back to the pitcher is the same. Sometimes, when a pitch is close but called a ball, you may notice the Brewers' catcher point his glove to the pitcher, as if to say, "great pitch, we'll get him next time", or more of a lob after a foul ball to give them just a bit of extra time to recover. Yet, as Misiorowski points out, sometimes Contreras will zip one back right away.

The Brewers' TV broadcast interviewed Miz during Saturday's game, recapping his historic Opening Day start, where he struck out a team-record 11 batters in the inaugural contest, part of a 20-strikeout effort from Milwaukee's staff. Brewers announcer Jeff Levering asked Misiorowski what it means when Contreras fires the ball back at you, and the young flamethrower had a hilarious response, as documented by MLB.com Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy on the social media platform X.

Miz minces no words with his response. Of course, this may not work on every pitcher, but it did with him. Stereotypically, pitchers tend to be very complex in their thought process, from superstitions before an appearance to routines between innings and numerous other oddities along the way. Coaches can do a lot to tap into these guys, but so do catchers.

The movie Bull Durham comes to mind, where Kevin Costner's character, Crash Davis, is assigned to mentor a budding arm, Nuke LaLoosh. Same with Jake Taylor in the Major League movies, as the aging Taylor helps develop "Wild Thing" Vaughn. Real life is often stranger than fiction, but in the case of "Wild Bill" and "The Miz", the guidance from catcher to pitcher seems to be working just fine.

It's no doubt a testament to Contreras' leadership ability that without saying anything, he can communicate to the Brewers' young staff that they need to figure their s--- out. But what's even more telling is that it works, and Misiorowski and the other inexperienced starters in the Brewers' rotation know just what they need to do when Contreras fires a strike back to them on the mound.