On Thursday, the Brewers are off to see the Miz.
Milwaukee is calling up No. 68 overall prospect Jacob Misiorowski to the Majors, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy confirmed Tuesday. The 23-year-old right-hander is slated to make his MLB debut as the Crew’s starting pitcher Thursday against the Cardinals at home at American Family Field.
Misiorowski ranks second among Triple-A qualifiers with a 2.13 ERA and 80 strikeouts over 63 1/3 innings with Triple-A Nashville this season. His 31.6 percent K rate places him third at the Minors’ top level. He’s also produced a .175 average-against and 1.09 WHIP over his 13 appearances (12 starts) with the Sounds.
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The 2022 second-rounder’s arsenal is already the stuff of legends before he even takes the hill in The Show.
On May 15, Misiorowski blew a 103.0 mph fastball past Memphis slugger Luken Baker for a strikeout in the sixth inning. It was the fastest thrown by a starting pitcher since Statcast expanded to the entire Triple-A level in 2023. Jordan Hicks was the only Major League starter to touch higher (103.2, 103.1) in the pitch tracking era (since 2008), but he did so as a St. Louis opener on July 12, 2022.
On the season, the 6-foot-7 right-hander has averaged 97.7 mph with his four-seam fastball. That’s plenty of velocity, but he makes it play up even further with 7.4 feet of extension, basically getting right on top of hitters and cutting their reaction time on the heater even shorter. That extension also gives him a low release point for his height, and with 15.3 inches of induced vertical break and lots of spin (2,560 rpm on average), Misiorowski can buzz that fastball past bats with consistency. He’s generating misses on 32.9 percent of swings against the fastball and holding batters to a .173 average against it – atypical numbers for a numero uno.
Given how effective the fastball has been, it’s no surprise he’s thrown it 65.3 percent of the time this season and almost equally to righties (65.2) and lefties (65.4). No one in Triple-A has thrown more four-seamers than Misiorowski’s 662 this season.
Misiorowski also mixes in two dastardly breaking pitches: a 92-95 mph sharp slider and an 85-87 mph curveball. The slider (his secondary weapon against righties) only breaks one inch gloveside but has about 10 inches more of drop and a 4 mph difference from the fastball. The curve has even more sweep (5.9 inches) and significantly more drop (45.3 inches), leading to some funkier swings from batters who think they can sit on the fastball. The 42.4 percent whiff rate on the deuce is the highest of Misiorowski’s four pitches.
The Brewers’ top pitching prospect has also worked diligently on folding in a circle changeup to offer himself another armside option. Even that pitch has averaged 90.9 mph, but it’s been enough separation to give lefties something else to consider. As such, opposite-side bats are hitting only .152 with just two extra-base hits and 41 strikeouts over 124 plate appearances against Misiorowski this season.
The biggest question mark around the Crowder (Mo.) Junior College product’s profile – and the biggest reason why he isn’t ranked higher – is his control.
Using a delivery that can look like all elbows and knees, Misiorowski walked 13.4 and 14.4 percent of his batters faced in his first two full seasons in 2023 and 2024, respectively. The Brewers even toyed with using him out of the Nashville bullpen late last year ahead of their playoff push but insisted to anyone who would listen that they still planned to get him rotation opportunities in his return to Triple-A this spring.
He has shown flashes of improved control this spring with two or fewer free passes in seven of his 13 appearances, but there have still been growing pains, including a six-walk outing over two innings on May 31. As such, his 12.3 percent BB rate represents an improvement over past years but still ranks 42nd out of 47 Triple-A qualifiers.
In essence, it’s the wipeout stuff that has earned Misiorowski this first MLB opportunity, and it’s worth seeing how well he can blow it by hitters at the top level, even if they are more patient than their Triple-A counterparts.
The Brewers have had success with utilizing rookie starters in 2025 with Chad Patrick and Logan Henderson making the most of their opportunities. Now, it’s time to pay attention to what Misiorowski, who has the highest ceiling of them all, has in store behind the curtain.