Last night, the Brewers put together a strong performance to open up their series against the Yankees, shutting them out 6-0. While the final score reflects a complete game from the Brewers as a team, it was Jacob Misiorowski who generated the talk of the game. Not only did he dominate a strong Yankees’ lineup, but he did it with some of the fastest pitches ever thrown by a starting pitcher.
How good was Misiorowski’s start last night?
It was a historic start for Miz. While he didn’t set a single-game strikeout record or post an impressive stat
line, he still made headlines with what he did. That was set from the first pitch of the game, when his fastball was one of the fastest in recorded major-league history.
The previous fastest pitch recorded by a starting pitcher came back on July 12, 2022, thrown by Jordan Hicks. Not only did Misiorowski top that, but he did it seven times last night, and five of those came in the first inning. It’s also important to note that Hicks was used as an opener in that game and only pitched 1 2/3 innings. If you want to find a pitch thrown in a more traditional start, that goes back to 2011 by Justin Verlander, thrown in Game 5 of the ALCS. Only 14 times has a starting pitcher thrown a pitch of at least 103 mph, and Misiorowski did it 10 times last night.
Here are some of the other marks he set in last night’s game and this season:
- Third-most pitches of 100+ mph in a single game (43). He also holds the mark for fourth-most (41) and fifth-most (39) in starts this season.
- Four strikeouts of 102+ mph in a single game, most by a pitcher since tracking started in 2008. He has eight in his career, while all other starting pitchers have a combined four.
- 40 careen pitches thrown of 102+ mph, also most by a pitcher since tracking started. Second place is Hunter Greene with 12.
- 161 career pitches thrown at 101+ mph, second most since tracking started. He’s only nine behind Hunter Greene for first place.
To finish this off, here is a video of his 11th strikeout from last night’s game. This was the end of his night at 95 pitches.
What marks is Misiorowski on an early pace to break?
As we approach the end of the first quarter of the season, there’s a larger data set that we can now look at and use to project out the rest of the season. Through his first eight starts, here are Misiorowski’s stats:
- 8 Games Started
- 44 Innings Pitched
- 12 Earned Runs Allowed – 2.45 ERA, 2.63 FIP
- 70 Strikeouts – 14.3 K/9
- 25 Hits Allowed – 5.1 H/9
- 17 Walks – 3.5 BB/9
Since that will be his first quarter of the season, if we multiply it out by four, here’s what the stats would look like over a full season:
- 32 Games Started
- 176 Innings Pitched
- 280 Strikeouts
- 100 Hits Allowed
- 56 Walks
While those numbers look great, I don’t think he’ll hit those marks. That’s not because he’s not capable of it; he absolutely could do that. However, he’s likely going to get some “maintenance” during the season. Whether that is in the form of a couple of skipped starts, a six-man rotation, or a short IL stint, there will be some extra rest built in during the season. With that in mind, here’s a more reasonable projection for a full season:
- 28 Games Started
- 154 Innings Pitched
- 245 Strikeouts
- 88 Hits Allowed
- 60 Walks
That’s still an incredibly strong season. It might not win a Cy Young award, but it would be one of the best single seasons in Brewers’ history. Here’s where that would rank him among the Brewers’ single-season leaders.
All these stats are from Baseball Reference. There is a caveat for these stats, as well. A pitcher typically needs to pitch one inning per team game played to qualify for these titles based on averages. Baseball Reference standardizes it at 100 games for their leaderboards, but if Misiorowski does not get to 162 innings, there could be some debate on whether some of these marks count.
Earned Run Average
Entering this season, here are the top five single-season ERAs:
- Mike Caldwell, 1978 – 2.36
- Corbin Burnes, 2021 – 2.43
- Teddy Higuera, 1988 – 2.45
- Brandon Woodruff, 2021 – 2.56
- Freddy Peralta, 2025 & Ben Sheets, 2004 – 2.70
Misiorowski’s 2.45 ERA would put him in a tie for third for single-season ERA. If he improves it a little more, he would have a chance to have the best single-season ERA in team history.
Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP)
Entering this season, here are the top five single-season FIPs:
- Corbin Burnes, 2021 – 1.63
- Ben Sheets, 2004 – 2.65
- Teddy Higuera, 1988 – 2.80
- Chris Bosio, 1989 – 2.87
- Mike Caldwell, 1978 – 2.94
This is a mark that will not fall any time soon. Burnes’ 2021 season is just too good for anyone to top it without a Cy Young season of their own. However, if Misiorowski keeps his current pace up, he could slide into second in that list.
Hits Per Nine Innings
Entering this season, here are the top five single-season marks:
- Freddy Peralta, 2025 – 6.317
- Corbin Burnes, 2022 – 6.416
- Brandon Woodruff, 2021 – 6.524
- Corbin Burnes, 2023 – 6.552
- Corbin Burnes, 2021 – 6.629
Misiorowski would top this list as of today by over a hit less than the rest. Most of these marks have been set in recent years, as well. Burnes in 2021 would still top Misiorowski when factoring walks into it, but by hits alone, Misiorowski is on a level above any other pitcher in Brewers’ history.
Strikeouts
Entering this season, here are the top five strikeout totals in a season:
- Ben Sheets, 2004 – 264
- Corbin Burnes, 2022 – 243
- Teddy Higuera, 1987 – 240
- Corbin Burnes, 2021 – 234
- Brandon Woodruff, 2021 – 211
Misiorowski has a legitimate chance to set the single-season strikeout record for the Brewers. The 28-game projection would put him just above Burnes for second, but the 32-game one puts him on top of the list. Not only could he do that in his second season in the major leagues, but he would do it in significantly fewer innings. Sheets pitched 237 innings in 2004, and Burnes pitched 202 in 2022.
All of this is fun speculation from a quarter season of data. There’s still a lot that can happen over the course of a season, but so far Misiorowski has shown what he’s capable of. He’s closing in on a full season of data from pitching in the major leagues, and all his numbers keep improving. If he keeps this up, we’re going to see some new Brewers’ history being made.
