Jacob Misiorowski Has Arrived

After taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning against the Washington Nationals last week before a cramp ended his night early, Jacob Misiorowski's follow-up start was arguably more dominant. The right-hander held the New York Yankees -- who entered Friday as the third-best offense in baseball, by measure of wRC+ -- to two hits and two walks over six scoreless innings, striking out 11.

Throughout the night, he shattered records on the radar gun. In the first inning, Misiorowski threw the five fastest pitches thrown by a starting pitcher in the pitch-tracking era (which began in 2008), hitting at least 103 mph seven times. He fell one strike short of opening his outing with an immaculate inning when his ninth pitch was a ball just below the zone to Aaron Judge.

"I had no clue," Misiorowski said postgame. "I got told in the dugout. I went back and looked and thought it was close, but yeah."

Misiorowski didn't sit 103 the entire night, but he held triple-digit velocity throughout, averaging north of 100 mph in every inning but the fourth. In the sixth, his final fastball of the night and 94th pitch overall was 102.7 mph.

"Never seen that," said Shane Drohan, who picked up his first big-league save with three innings of relief behind Misiorowski. "That was a first."

"I've had games in the past where you get that sudden burst of adrenaline in the fifth or sixth somewhere, and you find it back," Misiorowski said. "But this was a first for the big leagues."

Misiorowski leaned heavily on that signature fastball, throwing it 60% of the time and recording seven of his strikeouts with it. Sitting at 101.1 mph, it was the highest recorded average fastball velocity (four-seamers and two-seamers) in any outing of at least 90 pitches.

It was actually the third time he's set that record in his last four starts. Misiorowski's start against the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 25 (100.5 mph) ranks second on that list, and his start before that on April 19 (99.7 mph) is third.

As the weather has warmed up, so has Misiorowski's velocity. More impressively, he's maintaining it deeper into games, a product of the lanky 24-year-old adding strength and learning to better use his body since debuting in the big leagues last summer.

"If you look at his legs and you look at his body, he's working," Pat Murphy said. "He's got guys like [Brandon Woodruff], our strength staff, they're showing him, 'Look, man, this is how you've got to maintain. You want to be a major-league pitcher, you've got to work in between those five days.' And he's in there working."

In his current form, Misiorowski could establish himself as the hardest-throwing starting pitcher that baseball has ever reliably documented. His average fastball velocity of 99.7 mph would be the highest of any qualified starting pitcher season in the pitch-tracking era, a full tick above Jacob deGrom's 98.6-mph average in 2020 and Paul Skenes's 98.2-mph mark last year.

A pitcher's best velocity and command usually go hand in hand. When his body is moving most effectively, he's putting himself in the best position to generate energy at release and throw the ball accurately. That's been the case for Misiorowski. His fastball averaged 98.5 mph through his first four starts, and he threw just 45.2% of them in the zone. In his last four, his fastball has averaged 100.5 mph with a 56.1% in-zone rate. In those outings, he's cut his walk rate to 8.9% while striking out 41.6% of batters faced.

"It's not just velo," Murphy said. "There's a lot more to it."

That has included Misiorowski's poise on the mound and his handling of physical and mental adversity. Some of his outings as a rookie (and a couple last month) were derailed by one rough inning or fatigue near the end of starts. On Friday, he remained sharp through a long break during a four-run second inning for the Brewers' offense and an injury delay in the fourth for Brandon Lockridge, who suffered a right knee laceration in a collision with the left-field wall. Misiorowski still looked strong as he neared 100 pitches in the sixth.

"You saw it in Boston, his legs got really tired," Murphy said. "His legs were tired today, and he said that. He said, 'Hey, I'm not done, but my legs are getting tired.' So with that, he maintained his composure and didn't walk people, or whatever. He got right back on the horse."

Misiorowski is breaking out. His stuff is better than ever. His control is better than ever. His mound presence is improving. He leads baseball in strikeouts. Misiorowski quickly put himself on baseball's radar last season, but his two latest outings checked every box of a pitcher who has arrived as one of the game's elite starters.

"I think he's learning day in and day out what it takes to be a big-time guy," Murphy said.