MILWAUKEE (AP) — Jacob Misiorowski has been reaching new milestones for velocity just about every time he pitches, which might explain the Milwaukee Brewers right-hander’s lack of surprise over his latest achievement.
Misiorowski threw 57 pitches at least 100 mph — the most by any individual in a game since pitch tracking began in 2008 — while getting 12 strikeouts to match his career high Monday in a 5-1 win against the St. Louis Cardinals.
“That’s what I do,” Misiorowski said. “I throw hard.”
The previous record for 100 mph pitches in a game was 47 by Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene against St. Louis on Sept. 17, 2022.
Misiorowski reached 101 mph on 40 of his 96 pitches. He got to 102 mph on 22 pitches and had nine of at least 103. His top velocity was 103.4 mph, which he reached three times.
Nine of his strikeouts came on pitches that reached 100 mph, tying the record Greene set in that 2022 game against the Cardinals.
Misiorowski (5-2) allowed two hits and one walk in seven innings while improving his ERA to 1.83.
“Magnificent,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “One of the best performances I’ve seen in a long time.”
Yet it wasn’t much different from all of the 24-year-old’s other recent efforts.
In five starts this month, Misiorowski has allowed just one run and 11 hits while striking out 49 and walking six over 31 1/3 innings. When the Cardinals scored their lone run in the sixth, it snapped Misiorowski’s streak of consecutive scoreless innings at 29 1/3.
That represented the third-longest streak of shutout innings in Brewers history. Teddy Higuera had 32 straight scoreless innings in 1987 and Freddy Peralta had 30 last year.
Misiorowski hasn’t allowed an extra-base hit in six straight starts since giving up a double to Miami’s Kyle Stowers on April 19.
“For him, I think the biggest thing is throwing strikes, and he’s doing that,” Brewers first baseman Andrew Vaughn said. “That fastball’s probably the best in the game. It’s awesome to watch.”
Indeed, Misiorowski’s control is one of the biggest ways in which he has improved since going 5-3 with a 4.36 ERA as a rookie last season.
Misiorowski had 87 strikeouts and 31 walks in 66 innings last year. This season, he’s walked 19 in 64 innings while getting a major league-leading 100 strikeouts.
He started Monday’s game by walking JJ Wetherholt on a 3-2 pitch inside before retiring the next 15 batters he faced. The Cardinals didn’t get a hit until Pedro Pagés delivered a bloop single to lead off the sixth.
Misiorowski ended up allowing a run in the sixth, then came back out in the seventh and retired the side in order. He ended his day with a strikeout of Masyn Winn in which six of the seven pitches he threw exceeded 100 mph.
“It was just one of those things you go in the dugout, they tell you the inning before, ‘Hey, this is it. Go get it,’” Misiorowski said. “And kind of trust that the bullpen’s going to have your back behind you.”
Misiorowski also has greater endurance from the conditioning work he did in the offseason. Murphy noted that it’s about more than just arm strength.
“You can tell all those young pitchers out there, you have to have a lower half,” Murphy said. “He’s put together a great lower half.”
Misiorowski said working on his lower half was a focus in the offseason. The results are apparent in the way he’s working deeper into games while maintaining his status as the hardest-throwing starting pitcher in the majors.
According to MLB.com, Misiorowski has thrown 22 career pitches of at least 103 mph as a starter, including in the postseason. No other starting pitcher has thrown more than two pitches 103 mph or faster during the pitch-tracking era.
No wonder Misiorowski said he wasn’t taken aback Monday when each of his first six pitches went at least 103 mph.
“I feel like that’s how it should be every day,” Misiorowski said. “I feel like that’s where I’m at. I feel like that’s just my normal.”
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
