Jacob Misiorowski was having a dream MLB debut until one awkward step forced him to exit the ballgame.
The Milwaukee Brewers’ prospect took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before he exited with an apparent injury. His final line: 5 innings, 0 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts and 81 pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday evening. The Brewers were leading 6-0 at the time of his exit.
The injury appeared to occur when Misiorowski caught a spike while walking on the mound after a pitch. It looked like he was in good spirits while the Brewers athletic training staff checked on him, but the team was taking no chances with an arm considered to be a cornerstone of its future.
The Brewers later announced he left the game due to right calf and quad cramping, not the ankle he appeared to twist.
“Cramped up, and that’s when I just rolled it. All good, nothing crazy,” Misiorowski said after the game. “Of course I don’t want to leave like that. I feel like I could have kept going, but, you know, cramped up and stuff happens.
Brewers reliever Nick Mears entered the game for Misiorowski behind 3-0 in the count against leadoff batter Victor Scott II and walked him, but Mears finished a hitless sixth inning. Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras led off the seventh inning with a single to break up the no-hit bid.
Among the 81 pitches the 6-foot-7 Misiorowski threw, 14 were above 100 mph, per Statcast. That’s more than every Brewers starting pitcher combined has thrown since pitch tracking began in 2008, per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs. Every slider and changeup he threw was also above 90 mph.
He topped out at 102.2 mph on his fifth pitch of the game.
The Brewers drafted Misiorowski out of Crowder (Mo.) Junior College in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft, giving an above-slot $2.35 million to one of the draft’s most high-risk, high-reward prospects.
So far, it has been mostly reward. Misiorowski ranks 68th overall on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 and as Milwaukee’s fourth-best prospect, with an 80 fastball (elite), a 70 curveball (plus-plus) and a 60 slider (plus).
But while Misiorowski has some of the best stuff of any pitcher in the minors, his control has held him back. This year, he walked 12.3% of Triple-A batters before his call-up but offset that with a 31.6% strikeout rate. While walks remain a concern, the Brewers aren’t going to be too worried if he’s dominating against batters like he did Thursday.
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