Jacob Misiorowski's no-hit bid in MLB debut cut brutally short by injury

Milwaukee Brewers fans finally got a chance to see the team's top pitching prospect, hard-throwing righty Jacob Misiorowski, take the mound for his MLB debut on Thursday night. And it's safe to say he was worth the wait: Misiorowski wasted no time flashing his utterly dominant stuff, pumping triple-digits gas on each of his first three pitches of the game.

And just when you think you've managed to time that up, he's capable of whipping out a nasty slider that's faster than most other pitchers' fastballs.

For the first five innings of his MLB debut against the St. Louis Cardinals, Misiorowski was everything the Brewers and their fans had hoped he could be, striking out five while not allowing a single hit. Command has always been his issue, and sure enough, he walked four batters over those five frames. But his stuff was so outrageous that you couldn't help but wonder whether he might just throw a no-hitter in his first career start.

Unfortunately, the baseball gods had other plans. Misiorowski's first at-bat of the sixth ended in disaster, as the righty was landed awkwardly on the mound and rolled his left ankle. After trying to shake it off, he was eventually forced to leave the game accompanied by a trainer.

The Brewers later announced that Misiorowski was pulled with what's being called cramping in his right calf and quad, understandable enough given all the adrenaline he must've had on a warm summer night. Nick Mears was pressed into duty and pitched a clean sixth, but Aaron Ashby gave up a single to Willson Contreras with one out in the top of the seventh to end the no-no bid.

It's a brutal twist to what had been a dream debut up 'til that point, and it remains to be seen whether he'll be forced to miss any time. But regardless, Misiorowski left fans with a whole lot to be excited about moving forward.

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Brewers' Jacob Misiorowski looked every bit like a future ace

To be clear, he's still far from a finished product. A second-round pick out of Crowder College in the 2022 MLB Draft, Misiorowski's stuff has never been in question. His ability to actually harness it has; he posted walk rates north of five per nine innings at just about every stop on his way through Milwaukee's Minor League system. And that was on display again on Thursday, despite how overwhelming he was otherwise. If he doesn't clean up that aspect of his game, it doesn't matter how hard he throws — big-league teams will study film and adjust, and force him to do the same.

But man, it's hard not to get excited about the way he pitched. At 6-foot-7, he gets some outrageous extension on that fastball, making it play even harder than his already eye-watering velocity. And he can pair it with two above-average breaking balls, the slider/cutter hybrid you saw above plus a biting curveball. The Brewers have been one of the better pitching-development organizations in the sport in recent years, and while David Stearns is no longer in Milwaukee, you have to like their chances of turning Misiorowski into a frontline starter.

Has a pitcher ever thrown a no-hitter in his MLB debut?

Shockingly enough, the answer is actually yes. Exactly one pitcher in MLB history has managed to throw a no-hitter in his big-league debut — some 130 years ago. Back on Oct. 15, 1892, Cincinnati Reds righty Bumpus Jones (no, Bumpus isn't his given name) pulled off the feat against the Pittsburgh Pirates on the final day of the regular season. Of course, Brewers fans are hoping Misiorowski's career winds up a bit better: Jones played just one more season in the Majors, pitching to a 10.10 ERA in 1893.

He'll always have that place in history, though. No other pitcher has been able to match it since, although a handful have thrown a no-hitter in their first career start: Ted Breitenstein and Bobo Holloman of the St. Louis Browns in 1891 and 1953, respectively, and Arizona Diamondbacks lefty Tyler Gilbert in August of 2021.

Lowest career game total at time of no-hitter (Modern Era)
2nd game: Clay Buchholz (Red Sox), Sept. 1, 2007
2nd: Wilson Alvarez (White Sox), Aug. 11, 1991
3rd: Nick Maddox (Pirates), Sept. 20, 1907
4th: Tyler Gilbert (D-backs), Aug. 14, 2021
4th: Burt Hooton (Cubs), April 16, 1972
4th: Bo Belinsky (Angels), May 5, 1962
5th: Bobo Holloman (Browns), May 6, 1953
5th: Charlie Robertson (White Sox), April 30, 1922 (perfect game)
10th: Steve Busby (Royals), April 27, 1973