Jacob Misiorowski: Up-And-Coming Dynasty Player

When it comes to starting a major league career with a bang, perhaps not too many people have done a better job than Jacob Misiorowski.

One of the top prospects in the Milwaukee Brewers’ system, the hard-throwing right-hander threw five hitless shutout innings in his major league debut.

All he did as an encore Friday night against Minnesota was throw six perfect innings before allowing a leadoff walk and then a home run in the bottom of the seventh and leaving the game with a pitching line of six innings, one hit, one walk, and six strikeouts.

Jacob Misiorowski is off to a great start, and it is not going to be a flash-in-the-pan start before flaming out. Nope, Misiorowski is, without question an up-and-coming dynasty player.

Career Statistics

Road to the Show

Jacob Misiorowski wasn’t a top draft prospect or college recruit coming out of high school, so he started his post high school career at Crowder (MO) Junior College. All he did during his one season was go 10-0 with a 2.72 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. In 76 innings of work, he allowed only 50 hits (5.9 H/9) and struck out 136 batters for an amazing 16.1 K/9 rate. He also walked 45 batters for a 5.3 BB/9 rate.

The Brewers, a team that has often drafted players out of the JUCO level, selected Misiorowski in the second round of the 2022 draft and gave him a $2.35 million bonus – the highest bonus to any player they drafted that season.

The decision to draft and lock in Misiorowski was a wise one. In his first full season in 2023, he struck out 110 hitters in 71.1 innings of work across three different levels in the minors. In 2024, pitching mostly in Double-A, he finished the year with a 3.33 ERA and an 11.7 K/9 rate. At Double-A that season, he had a 3.50 ERA with 105 strikeouts and 50 walks in 79.2 innings of work.

He was then promoted to Triple-A to finish the season and was used out of the bullpen to limit his innings. He made two starts out of his 14 appearances and had a 2.55 ERA and 0.89 WHIP with an 11.2 K/9 rate but a high 5.1 BB/9 rate.

The Tools

• Fastball

When it comes to Jacob Misiorowski, the obvious pitch we are going to talk about is his fastball. In his first start with the Brewers, his fastball AVERAGED 99 mph. Let me say that again – his fastball averaged 99 mph. That is just sick. When you add on the extension he gets toward the plate, that fastball appears to be coming in at 102 to 103 mph. That is a nasty pitch.

Misiorowski’s arm slot gives him a fastball that provides a lot of tail away from lefties and into right-handed batters. In his first start, he averaged 10.4 inches of tail, or 2.7 inches more tail compared to other right-handed pitchers. His fastball also has little drop, making it appear to be rising on its way to the plate.

I know the above data is based on only his first start, but those red bars are pretty impressive. No matter what Misiorowski does the rest of the season and beyond, he will always possess one of the best fastballs in the majors.

• Slider

People call Misiorowski’s slider a slider, others may want to call it a cutter because this pitch doesn’t break as much as a traditional slider. Whatever you want to call it, it is a pitch that comes in around 94 mph with late movement away from righties, which is who Misiorowski usually throws this pitch to – at least in his first MLB start when 23 of his 25 sliders were thrown against right-handed batters.

While the pitch does not generate a lot of movement compared to an average slider, it was very effective in his start against the Cardinals as it generated a 50% whiff rate.

• Curveball/Changeup

Whether his slider is a slider or a cutter, his curve is a curve, and could be a dangerous weapon. The average curveball from a righty comes in at 80.5 mph. Jacob Misiorowski throws his in the upper 80s! Not only is it coming in hot, it then drops nine inches. Imagine gearing up for a 100 mph heater only to see a pitch come in 12 mph slower that is also darting down and away from you if you’re a right-handed hitter.

Misiorowski has a changeup, but he threw it only twice against the Cardinals. But like everything else he throws, it comes in faster than the typical change, as he averaged 91.5 mph against St. Louis. The average changeup comes in at 85 mph.

The Verdict

There is no denying the tools Jacob Misiorowski has. His fastball is elite, and his secondary pitches are solid. But the problem he has is controlling his arsenal of weapons.

Since 2023, his walk rates in the minors have been 5.3, 5.5, and 4.4 per nine innings. Against the Cardinals, he did not allow a hit. Great! But he did walk four batters in five innings, a BB/9 of 7.2. Going by past history and not his first two major league starts, ff Misiorowski wants to make the jump from solid starter to ace, he is going to have to learn to command his pitches. It doesn’t matter how hard you throw – if you can’t find the strike zone, you are not going to have a long career.

Because of his struggles to throw strikes at times, I would discount the talk of Misiorowski becoming a reliever. He did see time in the bullpen last year at Triple-A, appearing in 12 games out of the pen. And yes, there have been successful relievers who walk the tightrope by walking two hitters but wiggling out of trouble thanks to the strikeout ability they have. But the Brewers have used Misiorowski almost exclusively as a starter, and I see no reason why he won’t be given every chance to succeed as a starter in the majors.

As for what to expect the rest of this year, I don’t think the Brewers are going to push him too much. The most innings he has ever thrown in a season is 97.1, which he accomplished last year. So far this season, he has thrown 68.1 innings, so he is already creeping toward his career high. The likely road is to skip him in the rotation around off days once a month in order to try to regulate his innings.

Whether or not he throws a lot of innings this year, Jacob Misiorowski is a player to invest in, not just for now but for years. Yes, he is going to walk his fair share of batters. But his stuff is too good not to allow him to have success at this level, and thus he is a player to target in your league.

Thanks for reading, and come back again next week.