Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images
It won’t go down in the history books quite this way, but Jacob Misiorowski has begun his career by firing a no-hitter. Over five innings last week against the Cardinals and his first four Friday night against the Twins, Misiorowski allowed no runs or hits, walked four, and struck out eight. Perhaps that undersells him, though. Visually, Misiorowski’s dominance has been much more complete than the strikeout and walk columns convey.
In his debut on June 12, Misiorowski threw 81 pitches, six of which hit or topped 101 miles per hour. In his first four frames Friday night, he eclipsed 101 eight more times. He only gave up three hard-hit balls in the nine innings of combined work. For good measure, at this writing, he's tacked on a 10th no-hit inning with the fifth frame in Minnesota, and tonight, he's been perfect.
Everyone knew his stuff could be overpowering, if he could just find the zone often enough for it to matter. What's been a bit surprising, even if you were a Misiorowski booster coming into this two-part tour de force, is just how outmatched the opponents have looked.
"He’s not a tough gameplan. You know what I mean?" Pat Murphy said before Friday's game, when asked what he expected the Twins to try to do to prepare for the rookie. "You gotta make him be in the zone, and you’ve gotta get ready to hit the heater."
It hasn't turned out to be anywhere near that simple. With the fastball routinely showing velocity numbers that would impress even most elite one-inning relievers and maintaining a shape usually reserved for pitchers who throw about 96 instead, being ready for the fastball isn't nearly enough. Nor have the Twins looked able to make heads or tails of Misiorowski's mid-90s slider—although, to be fair, that phrase ("mid-90s slider") basically had to be invented just now.
Thus far, Misiorowski isn't missing bats quite the way you might expect. Twins starter Joe Ryan has induced more whiffs than he has Friday. It doesn't much matter. He's beating hitters so consistently that even when they make contact, it's unthreatening. Still, Misiorowski is surely happy to have Isaac Collins behind him, too. With a sliding catch on a fifth-inning liner, Collins kept Misiorowski's string going and showed off his own dazzling tools. It's been a remarkable night already for the Brewers.
UPDATE: Misiorowski made it through six innings without a blemish, but after a long rally in the top of the seventh that saw his team break things wide-open, he walked Byron Buxton and gave up a home run to Matt Wallner, to end his night. He finishes his second big-league start with 11 innings, two hits and two runs to his name, which (like his strikeout and walk numbers) only tells half the story. This was a historic performance, and if it's any omen for the future, the rest of the National League is in a great deal of trouble.
Below, join our game thread to talk more about this incredible performance.
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