Player Spotlight: Jacob Misiorowski — 22 Pitches at 102+ mph in One Start
Jacob Misiorowski threw 22 pitches at 102+ mph against the Yankees on May 8 — two more than any starter in the pitch-tracking era — and now leads MLB with a 14.0 K/9 on the back of a 101.1 mph fastball that has no historical precedent.
Player Spotlight: Jacob Misiorowski — 22 Pitches at 102+ mph in One Start
Jacob Misiorowski threw 22 pitches at 102.0 mph or faster in his May 8 start against the Yankees — two more than any starting pitcher in the pitch-tracking era — averaged 101.1 mph on his fastball over seven innings, and struck out four hitters on pitches at 102+, including Aaron Judge to finish a complete-game shutout. The Brewers have an ace, and the ace throws harder than any starter in modern Statcast history.
The Last 14 Days
| Metric | Misiorowski (Last 14) | 2026 League Avg (SP) |
|---|---|---|
| IP | 14.0 | — |
| ERA | 1.29 | 4.05 |
| FIP | 1.84 | 4.05 |
| K/9 | 16.7 | 8.6 |
| BB/9 | 1.9 | 3.1 |
| Avg FB Velo | 100.9 mph | 94.1 mph |
| Avg FB Spin | 2,612 rpm | 2,310 rpm |
Two starts, fifteen earned-run innings combined, 26 punchouts, three walks. The May 8 line against the defending AL champs — 7.0 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 12 K — sits second in MLB this year by Game Score, and the underlying Stuff+ on his fastball that night graded out at 161, which is roughly five standard deviations above the league mean. There is no comp in the database.
Statcast Breakdown
The headline is the fastball, and the headline understates it. Misiorowski's four-seam averages 101.1 mph season-to-date (100th percentile) and topped out at 103.6 mph four separate times against New York. But the velocity is the third-most predictive thing in his profile. The fastball plays even faster than the radar reads because of two things the radar does not capture.
First, extension: Misiorowski releases the ball 7.4 feet off the rubber (98th percentile), which adds roughly 1.5 mph of perceived velocity for the hitter. A 101.1 mph fastball from 7.4 feet of extension shows up at the plate like a 102.5 mph fastball from a normal release point. Second, induced vertical break: his four-seam carries 18.3 inches of IVB (94th percentile) out of a low 5.1-foot release height, which produces the flat vertical approach angle that hitters describe as "rising." The pitch tracking data agrees with the eye test — he is generating a 39.4% whiff rate on the fastball alone, a number that historically belongs to elite breaking balls, not heaters.
The secondary mix is the reason the breakout is real and not a velo-trick gimmick. The slider sits 90.2 mph with 2,750 rpm of spin (96th percentile), the curveball averages 84.1 mph with elite depth, and his Stuff+ on all three pitches grades above 120. Hitters are slugging .142 against him as a starter and his xwOBA of .206 ranks third among all qualified pitchers. The expected-stats sheet says the surface ERA is, if anything, a touch unlucky.
Why It Sustains
The bear case on a pitcher with this profile is always command and health — flame-throwing prospects with checkered minor-league control histories tend to walk the league once batters learn to spit on the chase pitches. Misiorowski's command profile has actually *tightened* this year: his walk rate is down from 13.1% as a rookie to 7.4% (53rd percentile) and his zone rate has climbed five points. His CSW is 34.1% (99th percentile). The .178 xBA against says hitters aren't squaring him up — they're swinging through 101 in the zone and watching the slider land on the back foot. Until someone proves they can hit a 101-mph fastball with a 7.4-foot extension and 18 inches of carry, the strikeout rate stays north of 35%.
The health flag is real and is the only thing that should temper enthusiasm. Misiorowski has never thrown 150 innings in a professional season, and the Brewers will likely manage him to a workload cap. Within those innings, though, this is the most overpowering starter in the sport right now.
In Legends Deck
The Legends Deck rating engine maps Statcast pitcher percentiles onto Velocity, Spin, Movement, and Command attributes, and Misiorowski's card just absorbed the largest single-week rating bump on the marketplace. Velocity is maxed at 99 — the engine cannot reward a 101.1 mph average fastball any higher, and we are considering a soft cap override for the May 8 start. Spin climbed to 94 behind the 96th-percentile slider. Movement sits at 92 on the strength of the carry-plus-extension combination, and Command moved from 71 to 78 to reflect the walk-rate improvement. His composite rating now ranks third among MLB starters in the database, behind only Skubal and Skenes. See his current card on the Legends Deck marketplace — the rating just moved with the tape.
Related Reading
- What Is Induced Vertical Break? — why an 18-inch four-seam from a low release plays like an unhittable rising fastball.
- What Is Extension? — the 7.4-foot release that turns 101 mph into perceived 102.5.
- What Is Stuff+? — the model that rates Misiorowski's fastball at 161, roughly five standard deviations above league average.