Jacob Misiorowski did not just beat the New York Yankees at American Family Field on Friday night. He overwhelmed them, carved them up, and walked off to a standing ovation after six scoreless innings that looked like something out of a video game.
The 24-year-old right-hander piled up 11 strikeouts over six innings, holding the Yankees to two hits and two walks in a 6-0 Brewers win. His outing set the tone for a shutout that tightened Milwaukee's grip in the standings and put the rest of the league on notice. The full box score and play-by-play are available at Baseball-Reference.
Heat In The First Inning
From the first pitch, Misiorowski made it clear this was not going to be a normal Friday at the ballpark. Every pitch he threw in the opening inning registered at least 102.4 mph. He unleashed ten pitches at 103 mph or harder, including three that hit 103.6. Those numbers are the kind of velocity marks the Statcast era had not seen from a starting pitcher.
The flamethrowing did not fade as the night went on. According to CBS Sports, the 57 fastballs Misiorowski threw averaged 101.1 mph, an eye-popping figure that explains why Yankees hitters spent most of the evening late, frustrated, or walking back to the dugout.
Judge's Reaction
When Aaron Judge is impressed by your stuff, that tends to get around the league in a hurry.
The Yankees' three-time American League MVP told Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Misiorowski is already one of the best pitchers in baseball and that his fastball ranks among the best he has ever seen. Judge got a particularly up-close look in the sixth, when Misiorowski finished his night with consecutive strikeouts, including a 102.4-mph heater that sent the Yankees star back to the bench.
Why This Matters
Yes, velocity across MLB is trending up. No, this is not normal.
Misiorowski did not just touch 100 a few times. He lived there, sitting in triple digits on dozens of fastballs, repeatedly climbing over 103 mph. When a starter brings that kind of heat with real command, extension, and a hard secondary pitch to pair with it, opposing game plans start to unravel before the bullpen even gets involved. The pitch-by-pitch data and breakdown of his arsenal are available for the data-curious on Baseball Savant.
For Milwaukee, Friday night pushed a young arm from prospect buzz into full-blown national storyline. For everyone else, it raised the urgency of figuring out a counterpunch before his next turn in the rotation. For a deeper look at how Misiorowski's velocity has built to this level, including the 102.7-mph strikeout that first landed him on the leaderboard, see the reporting at MLB.com.
