Milwaukee Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski is on a run unlike any other to begin an MLB career.
A week after posting five no-hit innings in his MLB debut before exiting with cramps, the 23-year-old right-hander arguably looked even better in his second start by taking a perfect game into the sixth inning against the Minnesota Twins. In total, he opened his career with 11 straight hitless innings.
Per the Brewers broadcast, he is the first starting pitcher in MLB’s live-ball era (since 1920) to post 10 straight hitless innings to begin his career. The overall record for hitless innings to open a career still belongs to reliever Austin Cox with 11 2/3 in 2023.
And per OptaStats, Misiorowski is the first player of the modern era (since 1900) to have more wins than hits allowed in his first two career starts.
It was not hard to see how Misiorowski accomplished it. Per Baseball Savant, his fastball averaged 100.6 mph and topped out at 102.1 mph, and that wasn’t even his most unhittable pitch. What batters really had trouble with was a slider that topped out at 96.7 mph.
That is not a typo. Misiorowski threw a slider 96.7 mph.
With Misiorowski at 80 pitches and the Brewers up 8-0 after a seventh-inning rally, the team opted to leave him in to pitch the bottom of the seventh. That quickly went badly, with Misiorowski walking the leadoff batter on four pitches then allowing a two-run homer to Matt Wallner.
Milwaukee opted to pull him after that, to a standing ovation from the opposing crowd. His final line: 6-plus innings pitched, one hit, two runs, one walk and six strikeouts. His ERA sits at 1.64.
The Brewers won the game 17-6.
In total, Misiorowski threw 29 pitches of at least 100 mph. That’s more than any starting pitcher not named Hunter Greene has thrown this season, and matches Stephen Strasburg’s career total.
With a stat like that, there’s really no telling how far Misiorowski can go in his career. He currently sits as the No. 66 overall prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline (with most of the concerns centered on his control). At 6-foot-7, he’s an imposing force on the mound and so far exceeding even the most outlandish of expectations.
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