Milwaukee Brewers Taking Proper Approach (So Far) to Jacob Misiorowski's Workload

[Jack Stern]

Image courtesy of © Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

In Jacob Misiorowski’s first start after the All-Star break—one that was pushed back a few days after the Brewers reshuffled their starting rotation—Pat Murphy took the ball from the rookie in the fourth inning after he had thrown just 64 pitches, even as he had struck out seven and not allowed a run. That was by design.

“You can't give him that big of a rest and then let him go out there and make his normal start,” Murphy explained. “You [have] to build up to it a little bit. So we thought somewhere between 55 and 65 pitches and no more than four ups was a good way to get him back into it.”

It was a matter of when, not if, the Brewers would limit Misiorowski to a shortened outing. It won’t be the last time it happens, either. His 97 1/3 regular-season innings last year were a career high as a professional, and he’s at 92 ⅔ frames this year with two months (plus a potential playoff run) remaining. The front office and clubhouse staff bear the responsibility of properly stretching the 23-year-old’s workload year-over-year, without pushing too far.

The Brewers have not placed a public cap on Misiorowski’s innings, and their thinking is presumably guided more by the stress level of each pitch and outing than by a hard and fast number. Still, they faced the task of balancing his opportunities to help the 2025 team while maintaining his long-term health.

Playing things as they did coming out of the break, whenever possible, will strike the best balance. A truncated outing made after a few extra days of rest is less disruptive to Misiorowski’s routine than skipping a start, moving him to the bullpen, or using him as a short-range opener ahead of a bulk pitcher. It also allows them to keep one of their best arms in the big leagues, and prevents a future need to shut him down in September or October.

“It is what it is,” said Misiorowski, who got the news from Chris Hook that Tuesday night would be a shortened outing. “Obviously, I want to go six or seven [innings], but they’re looking deeper season-wise … There’s no real conversation. They’re like, ‘This is what’s going to happen,’ and you live with it.”

As Misiorowski continues carving up big-league hitters amid the Brewers’ push for the top seed in the National League, eschewing workload limitations can be tantalizing. But if sticking to them means he will continue making starts all season, into October, and for years to come, it will pay off.

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[Jake McKibbin]

Due to how inefficient Misiorowski was last season, taking 4/5 innings and reaching 90+ pitches to do so, I thought I'd have a look at how many pitches he threw last season compared to this one.

 In 2024, he threw 1434 pitches at Double A Biloxi and a further 295 at Triple A Nashville, so 1729 in total

In 2025 so far he's thrown 1014 at Triple A Nashville and 469 with Milwaukee, so 1483 in total

 

Different people have different schools of thought in how much you can push a pitcher each season around their innings count, so take from that what you will, but it does present a slightly rosier pitcher than the innings totals comparison (97 1/3 in 2024, 92 2/3 in 2025 so far)

[Michael Trzinski]

Summer reading material:
The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports, by Jeff Passan

A true must-read for sports fans.

[MattK]

6 hours ago, Jake McKibbin said:

Due to how inefficient Misiorowski was last season, taking 4/5 innings and reaching 90+ pitches to do so, I thought I'd have a look at how many pitches he threw last season compared to this one.

 In 2024, he threw 1434 pitches at Double A Biloxi and a further 295 at Triple A Nashville, so 1729 in total

In 2025 so far he's thrown 1014 at Triple A Nashville and 469 with Milwaukee, so 1483 in total

 

Different people have different schools of thought in how much you can push a pitcher each season around their innings count, so take from that what you will, but it does present a slightly rosier pitcher than the innings totals comparison (97 1/3 in 2024, 92 2/3 in 2025 so far)

Ha!  Smart way to handle that ...

So if my math is not too broken, that would have him closer to only 58% of a "pitch totals from 2024 x 1.5" number.  Leaving about 1100 for the remainder of this season, although with innings & up and down time also perhaps being a factor.

[Jake McKibbin]

7 minutes ago, MattK said:

Ha!  Smart way to handle that ...

So if my math is not too broken, that would have him closer to only 58% of a "pitch totals from 2024 x 1.5" number.  Leaving about 1100 for the remainder of this season, although with innings & up and down time also perhaps being a factor.

That's certainly one way to look at it!