Jacob Misiorowski stood on the mound Friday night with a baseball in his hand and a sellout crowd in Milwaukee watching something rare unfold. Brewers fans have seen good pitchers, they've seen tough pitchers, and they've even seen flashes of greatness. But the 24-year-old right-hander gave them something else against the Philadelphia Phillies: 9 innings, 15 strikeouts, 1 hit, 0 walks, 95 pitches, and a 6-0 shutout that looked like baseball history being written in real time.
A “Maddux” means a pitcher throws a complete-game shutout in fewer than 100 pitches. The Miz did it with 15 strikeouts, the most ever in a Maddux since pitch counts have been tracked back to 1988. From MLB.com:
Misiorowski finished what he started on 95 pitches (74 strikes) and logged the most strikeouts in a so-called Maddux – a shutout on fewer than 100 pitches – since records of pitch counts began in 1988. Tarik Skubal struck out 13 in his own Maddux last year to set that mark.
Misiorowski threw 58 triple-digit fastballs, including 31 at 102-plus, both new marks for the pitch-tracking era. It continued a stretch in which he has a 0.17 ERA in his past eight outings. If you exclude openers, that’s the lowest ERA in any eight-start span since earned runs became an official stat in 1913, surpassing Chris Sale's 0.20 mark for the Red Sox in 2018.
Kyle Schwarber's 4th inning single kept it from being a perfect game, and Bryce Harper erased even that lone baserunner by grounding into a double play.
The Miz faced the minimum 27 hitters regardless.
I watched Kerry Wood's 20-strikeout masterpiece against the Houston Astros in 1998, and I thought I'd never see a better-pitched game. Wood, the former Chicago Cubs right-hander, allowed 1 hit, hit 1, and struck out 20, which tied the major league record in only his fifth big league start.
For nearly three decades, that game has lived in my head as the standard.
The Miz topped it for me. I'm trying hard to stay objective, but lifelong Brewers fans know how hard that is when one of your players takes the mound and makes the sport feel young again.
Misiorowski didn't just overwhelm hitters; he made them look as though they were swinging underwater. His 104.5 mph strikeout pitch to Schwarber was the fastest pitch by a starter since pitch tracking began in 2008. He also struck out Trea Turner at 103.5 and Harper at 104.1 in the same first inning. MLB.com shares some history the Miz made on Friday night:
- Misiorowski became the third pitcher with at least 15 strikeouts and no more than one baserunner in a shutout since at least 1900. He joined Max Scherzer in his Oct. 3, 2015 no-hitter and Clayton Kershaw in his June 18, 2014 no-hitter. That’s future Hall of Fame company.
- This may have been his best yet, but dominating is nothing new for Misiorowski. He now has a 0.17 ERA in his last eight starts. That’s the lowest ERA in an eight-start span since earned runs became official (1913), excluding openers, surpassing Chris Sale's 0.20 mark for the Red Sox in 2018. Truly, factually, one of the greatest stretches. Ever. Think about that.
- More evidence towards the greatest stretch ever? He’s allowed just one extra-base hit in those last eight starts. He also has 80 strikeouts. Misiorowski is the only pitcher since at least 1900 with 60 or more strikeouts and one or no extra-base hits allowed in an eight-game span. Pure dominance.
- This is Jacob Misiorowski. That means he didn’t just do historic things. He did them with his equally historic velocity, which was on display from the beginning. He recorded a strikeout at 104.5 mph in the first inning, the fastest pitch by a starter since pitch tracking began in 2008. He now has each of the 23 fastest pitches by starters on record.
The late innings were almost harder to believe. His final pitch, number 95, came in at 103.1 mph for strikeout number 15. Eight of his nine pitches in the 9th inning were above 100 mph. The other pitch was a 92.2 mph changeup, which only sounds normal because his fastball has turned normal into a rumor.
Baseball has had phenoms before, but few have owned a run like this. From CBS:
Misiorowski's final pitch, No. 95 on the night, was a 103.1 mph fastball by Justin Crawford for strikeout No. 15. Eight of his nine pitches in the ninth inning were over 100 mph. The one that wasn't? It was a 92.2 mph changeup.
"Amazing. Amazing young man. He really is," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said after the game. "Forrest Gump-like. Amazingly real. Naive to a lot of things. It's beautiful. He just goes out and lets it eat."
Brewers manager Pat Murphy called him an “amazing young man” after the game, which fits the public picture of the Miz so far. He appears humble, polite, and almost unaware of how much awe he's creating. Fans love the thunder, but they also love the young man who still seems grounded while throwing harder than Thor.
Baseball's history is full of young arms that burned bright and then hurt like a memory. Torn shoulders, shredded elbows, loss of command, bad luck, and too many innings have taken pieces from some of the game's most gifted pitchers.
As a Brewers and a baseball fan, I'm praying the Miz stays healthy. The sport is better when a player like this is on the mound.
Greatness always asks for one more night. Fans, meanwhile, ask for something gentler: let him keep the arm, the joy, and the humility. Let Milwaukee enjoy the rare gift without bracing for the old heartbreak.
The Miz gave baseball a night it won't forget. Now the hope is simple: let him give us many more.
