Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Milwaukee ace Jacob Misiorowski has dominated opponents this season with record-setting velocity and a dominant strikeout-to-walk ratio.
- His team’s strategy of allowing such extreme pitch counts potentially puts his long-term health at risk.
- The only way to justify this approach is if they win the World Series before his arm gives out.
Baseball fans can consider themselves lucky to see Milwaukee Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski carve through lineups so easily. It’s too bad that the Brewers have already set Misiorowski up to fail in a way they’ll forever regret.
Misiorowski continued his stellar season on Monday, striking out 12 in a 5-1 victory over the rival Cardinals. Not only did he lower his ERA to 1.83, but Misiorowski now owns an incredible 100-19 K-BB ratio in 64 innings.
Misiorowski didn't need long to find his groove, hitting at least 103 mph eight times in the first inning. Of his 96 pitches, Misiorowski reached triple digits 57 times, which is believed to be a single-game record.
According to MLB Advanced Media, Misiorowski’s 57 triple-digit pitches are 10 more than any other pitcher since the pitch-tracking era began in 2008.
“I feel like that’s where it should be every day,” Misiorowski said. “That’s where I’m at. That’s just my normal.”
Unfortunately for the Brewers, Misiorowski’s “normal” has him on the road to a “what could have been” career.
The Brewers must win a title to validate Jacob Misiorowski’s pitching style
By no means are we trying to be overly cynical, especially given how much fun Misiorowski is to watch every fifth day. The problem, as we’ve seen with plenty of other pitchers, is the inherent risk in allowing his pitches to regularly get into the triple digits.
In the age of increased Tommy John surgeries, we’ve watched teams play it safe with their young pitchers, opting for the five-inning start and tighter pitch counts.
Yet, the Brewers are fine with the 24-year-old Misiorowski trying to break the radar gun.
The only way Misiorowski and the Brewers can justify such a mindset is if he stays healthy and they win the World Series.
All is forgiven — or, at least, it should be — when a team wins a title.
Suppose that Misiorowski’s incredible velocity catches up with him and he eventually requires elbow surgery. Things could be far easier for Brewers fans to accept if they’d attended a championship parade beforehand.
The most important thing is winning the World Series. Think about how different former Cubs standout Mark Prior’s legacy would look otherwise. As a 22-year-old only two years removed from college, Prior threw 211 1/3 innings for the NL Central-winning Cubs in 2003. He finished third in NL Cy Young voting after going 18-6 with a 2.43 ERA and a 245-50 K-BB ratio.
Of course, the Cubs’ season ended following an NLCS collapse against the Marlins, and Prior was never the same.
Prior threw his final MLB pitch in 2006, and multiple comeback attempts never panned out. Decades later, we collectively look back at Prior’s career as a disappointing story, and we question whether Dusty Baker should have used Prior the way that he did.
We’d still likely have those conversations had the Cubs won the World Series, but the counter would be that the ends justified the means.
For their sake, the Brewers better hope they’re holding the Commissioner’s Trophy in November.
Otherwise, it might not be long before Misiorowski is yet another cruel lesson for teams with flamethrowing starters at their disposal.
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