In his third MLB start, Milwaukee Brewers rookie right-hander Jacob Misiorowski did Jacob Misiorowski things. Not only did he keep the Pittsburgh Pirates off the board in his five innings of work while allowing only two hits, but he struck out eight batters and also outdueled Paul Skenes. Despite his dominance, Brewers fans are somewhat disappointed as Pat Murphy elected to pull him after just 74 pitches. As frustrating as it might be to see him pulled early, the Brewers were smart for doing so.
After his latest dominant start, Misiorowski has now allowed a total of two runs on three hits in 19 innings of work across three starts. He looks like an ace already, which is frightening.
Brewers fans want to see Misiorowski throw far more than 74 pitches, especially when he's dealing, but again, the Brewers are conserving innings when they can.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.
Brewers have no reason to push it with Jacob Misiorowski
Let's go over the situation here. The Brewers, facing a Pirates team that's dead last in the National League in runs scored, were up 4-0 and knocked Skenes out of the game after four innings. They have a strong bullpen and an off-day after this game. Why not lean on the bullpen to get 12 outs armed with a substantial cushion against a subpar offensive team?
Had a guy like Freddy Peralta been on the mound, perhaps the Brewers would've pushed it, but why bother doing so with Misiorowski in his third MLB start? Misiorowski notably had not thrown more than 86 pitches since late May. Pushing it another inning with him would've likely gotten him near the 90-pitch mark, a number he hasn't reached since May 9. Again, there just is no reason to push it against this Pirates team with an off-day tomorrow.
Jacob Misiorowski pitch count is in full effect for Brewers
Misiorowski is now at 16 MLB innings this season. Adding those to his 63.1 innings at Triple-A, he's at 79.1 innings. That figure is just 18 innings shy of tying his professional high set last season. Chances are, the Brewers have some sort of innings limit in mind for Misiorowski, a pitcher they envision leading their rotation for a long time. With that in mind, it makes a lot of sense to just let the bullpen take care of the rest.
The Brewers are trying to save Misiorowski for their stretch run. They hope to make the postseason and have their young hurler be healthy and available for them in October. The odds of this happening are greater if, instead of trying to get six or seven innings out of him against the light-hitting Pirates, they limit him to five and save his bullets for a more important spot.
It isn't a popular decision in the slightest, but it was absolutely the right one, and one Brewers fans will be glad Pat Murphy made in the future.