MILWAUKEE — Jacob Misiorowski isn’t content with merely being the hardest-throwing starting pitcher in Major League Baseball; the Milwaukee Brewers ace is intent on becoming the best one.
In fact, he might be there already.
The 24-year-old right-hander is hitting unprecedented velocities for a starter in MLB’s pitch-tracking era that began in 2008. Over the past month, he has dominated unlike any pitcher in the past century at the top level of the sport.
Misiorowski has allowed just one run over his past eight starts heading into his matchup with the host Atlanta Braves in Friday’s opener to a three-game series at Truist Park. He said he can’t come up with a specific moment or decision that sparked this surge.
“It’s more that it finally clicked,” said Misiorowski, who is 8-2 with a 1.34 ERA and 131 strikeouts to lead the majors in the latter two categories. “Everything started settling in and feeling good.”
The fact Misiorowski used the word “finally” to describe an emergence in his first full season in the majors underscores his exacting standards. Misiorowski’s rise has Brewers manager Pat Murphy comparing him to Forrest Gump, which prompted a social media post by the pitcher with his own face over the Tom Hanks movie character’s body.
“It’s for sure meant to be a compliment for a guy who didn’t put in limits on himself and his naivety,” Murphy said. “It was a factor in a positive way, where he went out and achieved whatever he set his mind to and didn’t let the outside forces — wasn’t even aware of the outside forces — and didn’t let anything hold him back.”
Misiorowski was selected to the MLB All-Star Game last year after just five starts, though he struggled late in the regular season before producing a 1.50 postseason ERA during Milwaukee’s run to the National League Championship Series. Now he’s a Cy Young Award favorite.
The eye-popping numbers most associated with Misiorowski come from the radar gun. He reached 104.5 mph — the fastest velocity by any starter in the pitch tracking era — and got to 100 mph on a record 58 pitches during the Brewers’ 6-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies last Friday.
He has thrown 460 pitches at least 100 mph this season, already surpassing the record for a starter set by Cincinnati Reds right-hander Hunter Greene with 337 such pitches in 2022.
However, Misiorowski’s most impressive statistics have more to do with results than velocity.
According to MLB.com, his 0.17 ERA since May 1 is the best in an eight-start stretch for any pitcher since earned runs became an official statistic in 1913. Against the Phillies, he became the third pitcher since 1900 to throw a shutout while striking out 15 and allowing no more than one baserunner.
Opponents are batting just .140 against Misiorowski this year. According to SportRadar, no starting pitcher has allowed an opponent batting average of .166 or below over a full season since at least 1910. Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez had batters hitting .167 against him in 2000, while opponents hit .168 against Luis Tiant of the Cleveland Indians in 1968.
Misiorowski’s development into a complete pitcher should come as no surprise, considering who he grew up watching. The list of pitchers he admired includes Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale and Adam Wainwright. While the 37-year-old Sale is still a hard thrower and fellow left-hander Kershaw also had outstanding velocity early in his career, Wainwright and Greinke succeeded without overpowering fastballs.
All four had one thing in common.
“Every game, you felt like they could trust them to get a win,” Misiorowski said. “That was the big thing. You looked at those guys, and they were going out there and going to perform for seven or eight innings to secure the team a win.”
His appreciation for the game’s history includes a baseball card collection he said numbers in the thousands, though he probably owns even more Pokemon cards.
“Since I was a kid, my dad got me into it,” Misiorowski said of his baseball card collection. “It’s huge right now. I think I need to downsize it a little bit, but it’s fun.”
His enthusiasm is apparent on the mound and in his work ethic. He devoted the offseason to upgrading his leg strength to withstand the rigors of a full season, and results are showing in his improved endurance and command.
“He could rest on his laurels: ‘Hey, I was an All-Star in my first year. I pitched in the playoffs. I pitched well. I can do it. I’m fine. I’ll be all right,'” Murphy said. “Or you can say, ‘I’m going home. I’m going to get stronger. I’m going to do whatever I can do to come back and dominate.’ That’s what he’s done.”
Misiorowski’s growth has helped the Brewers overcome numerous pitching injuries to build a comfortable lead in the NL Central Division at five games over the St. Louis Cardinals entering Thursday. With Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison (8-1, 2.47) leading the rotation, the Brewers rank fourth in the majors in ERA.
Over his past eight starts, Misiorowski has struck out 80 batters while allowing nine walks and 14 hits in 54 1/3 innings. The only extra-base hit he has allowed over his past nine starts was a double by the Houston Astros’ Isaac Paredes on May 31.
The low walk totals are notable after Misiorowski struggled with his control as a rookie. He walked 31 batters in 66 innings last year but now constantly gets ahead of hitters.
“He’s winning the 0-0 and the 1-1 a lot,” pitching coach Chris Hook said of taking control early in at-bat. “When he doesn’t, it stands out to be like, ‘Oh, God, he didn’t win the 0-0. He didn’t win the 1-1.’ Like, that’s weird for him to go to a two-ball count.”
Once hitters fall behind in the count, they have little chance.
After facing him for the first time last month, New York Yankees slugger and Aaron Judge, a three-time American League MVP, noted Misiorowski is “almost basically releasing it in the catcher’s glove” due to the extension he gets with his 6-foot-7 frame.
MLB Network analyst Ryan Dempster, a former pitcher who was a two-time MLB All-Star, said Misiorowski reminds him of National Baseball Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, a 6-10 lefty, in that regard because their hands seem right in front of the plate to the batter when they release a pitch.
“You can tell yourself to swing, but your brain doesn’t quite compute until it’s out of the hand,” Dempster said. “By the time it’s out of his hand, it’s already on you. I haven’t seen a fastball like this since Kerry Wood.”
After a meteoric rise with the Chicago Cubs, Wood’s career was derailed by injuries, leading to worries of hard throwers being susceptible to blowing out pitching arms. However, Dempster notes Misiorowski is playing in an era with lower pitch counts. Misiorowski also produces elite velocity without overthrowing.
“He sure is repeating his delivery, and when you repeat your delivery, you tend to stay healthy,” Dempster said. “Guys who don’t repeat deliveries and get out of whack and something’s a little off, they struggle with that. I really think he will stay healthy, just me personally.”