MILWAUKEE — Jacob Misiorowski rediscovered the form that earned the flamethrowing rookie so much acclaim in the first few weeks after the Milwaukee Brewers called him up from the minors.
He was throwing heat. More importantly, he was throwing strikes.
Misiorowski fired three innings of scoreless relief while reaching at least 100 mph on 31 of his 57 pitches during the Brewers’ 7-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs in Game 2 of their NL Division Series. He struck out four while allowing one hit and two walks.
It was the type of performance that showcased how much of an impact Misiorowski could make if the Brewers have a long postseason run.
“Miz stepped up,” manager Pat Murphy said. “You guys get all enthralled with MPH. I’m enthralled that he wasn’t giving up free bases, kept his composure with runners and that type of thing.”
Those have been the issues for Misiorowski during his eventful rookie season.
The right-hander garnered so much attention for his overpowering fastball that he was selected an All-Star after making just five starts. In two of them, he won head-to-head pitching matchups with NL Cy Young Award favorite Paul Skenes and three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw.
But he’s dealt with plenty of obstacles ever since.
Misiorowski went on the injured list with a bruised left tibia in early August. He returned later that month but allowed 23 runs (22 earned) over 32 2/3 innings from that point on.
His late slide pretty much assured that Misiorowski wouldn’t be part of the Brewers’ starting rotation for the playoffs, but his pure stuff demanded that he be included in Milwaukee’s postseason plans.
He entered Game 2 with the score tied 3-all in the third inning. Each of his first eight pitches registered at least 102.6, including a top velocity of 104.3.
“I think I was so fired up, adrenaline pumping,” Misiorowski said. “You know, I didn’t really know where my feet were, but we landed, so it was fun. It was a lot of fun.”
When Misiorowski has struggled, he generally has either lost control of the strike zone or struggled to maintain his poise amid adversity. But he managed to balance showing his emotion while also maintaining his focus in Game 2 as he helped the Brewers grab a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
Misiorowski issued a one-out walk to Seiya Suzuki in the third inning but struck out Ian Happ and then got Carson Kelly to hit a grounder back to him.
“We needed to get him before he settled in, and he made some pitches to strike out Happ,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “If Ian gets on there, then there’s some pressure on him immediately.”
Misiorowski was so excited after Kelly’s grounder that he ran all the way from the pitcher’s mound to first base himself to retire the batter before pumping his fist repeatedly. Misiorowski said afterward he handled the play unassisted because he was worried about overthrowing first baseman Andrew Vaughn.
Even so, Murphy used the moment to offer a reminder to the 23-year-old.
“You’ve got to let him express himself, but then you’ve got to watch and see if he comes back to where he needs to be,” Murphy said. “It’s hard. He came off the mound in the (third) inning and he was ranting and raving and I gave him a little, like, ‘OK, stay with it.’
“He’s here at the highest level for a reason, and he’s been through some ups and downs. I think he’s pretty aware and pretty on high alert.”
Misiorowski walked Matt Shaw with two outs in the fourth and gave up a leadoff single to Nico Hoerner in the fifth, but didn’t let either runner advance beyond first base and ended up as the winning pitcher.
“I think the whole thing was just staying fired up, staying with that adrenaline pumping, and keep going at what I was doing before in (my) first inning,” Misiorowski said.
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