Jacob Misiorowski’s short Sunday night at Camden Yards was not an injury alarm for the Brewers. It was a planned breather for a 24-year-old right-hander who has carried an ace’s workload while putting together one of the strongest pitching seasons in the Majors.
A controlled landing in Baltimore
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Milwaukee entered its series finale against the Orioles with Misiorowski scheduled for a deliberately limited outing. Manager Pat Murphy said before the game that the club intended to keep the start brief, giving its National League Cy Young Award contender a chance to reset before his final regular-season turn against the Cardinals next weekend.
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Misiorowski worked three scoreless innings on 44 pitches. He surrendered one hit, issued no walks and struck out four Baltimore hitters.
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His first strikeout of the night moved him past Corbin Burnes’ 2021 total for second place on the Brewers’ single-season strikeout list. Ben Sheets remains the franchise leader with 264 strikeouts, set in 2004.
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Milwaukee’s plan calls for Misiorowski to build back toward a more customary workload in his next start. The club has used a similar late-camp tapering approach in Spring Training before stretching pitchers out again once games count.
An ace season, carefully managed
Even with the abbreviated Baltimore appearance, Misiorowski leads the Major Leagues in several of the game’s most important pitching categories: a 1.86 ERA, 247 strikeouts, a 0.80 WHIP and a .159 opponents’ batting average.
He has reached 169 1/3 innings this season, already 28 more than he logged last year between Triple-A Nashville, Milwaukee and the postseason. The Brewers have kept an eye on that increase since May and June, when Misiorowski began separating himself from the National League field with a run of overpowering starts and eye-opening velocity for a starter.
The club’s caution is about preserving what it has, not slowing down a pitcher in trouble. Misiorowski has become the rotation’s centerpiece, and the next priority is getting him to October in the right spot.
October alignment remains in view
Milwaukee began Sunday needing a combination of two Brewers wins or two Braves losses to secure a first-round bye. If that path holds, the schedule would put Misiorowski in line to make his first postseason start in Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Saturday, Oct. 3, at American Family Field.
For one night in Baltimore, the Brewers took the smaller view: 44 pitches, three clean innings, four strikeouts, and a healthy arm headed toward the games that matter most.
