How Jacob Misiorowski got this good: Inside the Brewers ace's transcendence into one of MLB's best pitchers
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- Jacob Misiorowski struck out 15 Phillies with no walks in a one-hit shutout, landing 74 of 95 pitches for strikes in what the source calls one of the greatest starts ever.
- Misiorowski's fastball averaged 101.1 mph this season — more than 6 mph above the 95 mph league mark for right-handed starters — and he touched 104.5 mph against Philadelphia, the fastest pitch on record by a starter.
- The Brewers ace owns an MLB-best 308 ERA+ (208% better than league mean) and leads the majors with 131 strikeouts, a stark reversal from a 2025 rookie year that produced a 4.36 ERA, a 96 ERA+, and 31 unintentional walks in 87 innings.
- Misiorowski releases the ball 7.6 feet in front of the rubber (100th percentile in extension), giving him an effective fastball velocity of 102.5 mph and a flatter angle that induces swings under pitches at the top of the zone.
- The right-hander raised his four-seamer usage from 55.2% in 2025 to 63.4% this season, bucking a league trend that has pushed MLB-wide fastball usage to a record-low 30.6%.
- Misiorowski's curveball whiff rate jumped from 30.7% to 46.4% year-over-year — actually higher than his fastball whiff rate — and opposing hitters are batting .165 against his four-seamer in 2026.
Why it matters: Milwaukee has now turned a Crowder College arm that sat 94-96 mph in 2022 into a starter averaging 101.1 mph with zero walks in a 15-strikeout masterpiece, reinforcing the Brewers' reputation for pitcher development that lets them trade stars like Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta without skipping a beat. For the rest of MLB, Misiorowski's willingness to throw a four-seamer 63.4% of the time directly contradicts the league-wide collapse of fastball usage to a record-low 30.6%.
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