Jacob Misiorowski is the most exciting rookie in MLB this season. He may also need to be experienced in smaller doses moving ahead.
The Milwaukee Brewers’ rising star pitched three scoreless innings before being removed in the fourth during Tuesday’s game against the Seattle Mariners, marking the most visible outcome of the team’s established pitch limits for the 23-year-old. His statistics included 3 2/3 innings, three hits allowed, no runs, one walk, seven strikeouts, and 64 pitches thrown.
His fastball had an average speed of 99.5 mph, with a maximum of 101.9 mph. The two curveballs were the only pitches he delivered that were below 90 mph.
DL Hall took the mound in place of Misiorowski with two outs and induced a groundout from Luke Raley, maintaining the rookie’s scoreless performance.
The beginning marked Misiorowski’s first appearance since his participation in the All-Star Game, which was accompanied by its own controversy because he had only started five games prior to last week. MLB’s decision to include him in the Midsummer Classic highlighted his extraordinary talent, something the Brewers will want to protect as much as possible.
How many innings will the Brewers allow Jacob Misiorowski to pitch?
It’s no surprise that the Brewersplan to restrict the amount of work Misiorowski, who throws hard, is doing, particularly when they are in position for the playoffs.
Several factors can make teams uncomfortable, but a significant rise in innings for young pitchers is among the most concerning. If Misiorowski continues to pitch as a regular starter, he would be following that trend. In 2023, his first full season in affiliated baseball, he pitched 71 1/3 innings, and in 2024, that number increased to 97 1/3. This year, he threw 63 1/3 innings with Triple-A Nashville before moving up to the majors, where he has now accumulated 29 1/3 innings, along with a scoreless inning in the MLB All-Star Game.
Having already pitched 92 2/3 innings this season, and with almost the entire second half remaining, the Brewers will take steps to minimize the risk of a full season for an arm that is already vulnerable to injury because of the intensity of his pitching.
Tuesday could be an extreme example of how swiftly they bring him in, although, as manager Pat Murphy.told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
It’s crucial for us to consider everyone’s well-being when making these strategic choices,” he stated. “For instance, ‘Okay, who needs a rest right now?’ Miz hasn’t pitched in a certain number of days, so he throws an inning in the All-Star Game. We can’t expect him to go out and pitch seven innings tomorrow.
That’s not just for him. So, you have to sort of do that.
We could do some quick calculations. The Brewers are avoiding the error the Washington Nationals made in 2012 with Stephen Strasburg by not revealing a specific inning limit, but let’s assume they prefer him to pitch no more than 140 innings this season.
If this were true, and Misiorowski were to start just once a week for the remainder of the regular season, he would have approximately nine starts remaining along with 57 1/3 innings to pitch. This translates to about 5.26 innings per start, which isn’t particularly alarming (as few pitchers typically average that many innings per game). However, there’s also the postseason to consider, and that’s where complications arise.
If the Brewers wanted Misiorowski to be able to make, for example, three additional starts in the playoffs, that would equate to 3.94 innings per start. Increasing his inning limit to 150 would result in 4.78 innings per start.
Let’s be clear — all of the above is just guesswork. The strategy likely doesn’t involve a strict limit on innings since MLB teams understand that not every inning is the same, and there are alternative methods to reduce stress on a pitcher’s arm. The Brewers may simply be keeping an eye on his well-being and adjusting his workload during periods when his contribution isn’t critical, at least until he starts playing in the playoffs.
Nevertheless, both the statistics and the Brewers’ statements indicate that if you pay to watch the Brewers’ rising star, don’t anticipate getting the full ace experience unless notified otherwise. There’s essentially no way he can serve as a starter who throws six or seven innings every five days if a pitch limit is in place.
One area where the restriction isn’t affecting Misiorowski is in award recognition, as he is still a top contender for the NL Rookie of the Year at BetMGM.
