Milwaukee will put the ball in Jacob Misiorowski’s right hand when the National League Championship Series opens Sunday night at American Family Field. The 24-year-old, widely viewed as the leading candidate for this season’s NL Cy Young Award, is set to face Dodgers ace Tarik Skubal, a two-time American League Cy Young winner.
Misiorowski gets the Game 1 call
The Brewers made Misiorowski their official choice for the opener, giving their October rotation a hard-throwing centerpiece for a matchup that begins at 8 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. local time and 5 p.m. PT. FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX One will carry the game.
- Misiorowski opened the Division Series against San Diego on Oct. 3 with a 104.8 mph fastball, the quickest postseason pitch recorded in the pitch-tracking era that began in 2008.
- The Padres refused to make his night easy, however, spoiling 30 pitches over the first four innings.
- That long early workload pushed Misiorowski to 88 pitches, and Milwaukee went to its bullpen before the fifth inning.
- He was available again for Game 4 in San Diego on Wednesday, warming in the ninth inning but never entering the game.
- With no relief appearance added to his ledger, Misiorowski arrives at the NLCS opener rested for the Dodgers.
A familiar opponent
This will not be Misiorowski’s first October look at Los Angeles. Across three career outings against the Dodgers — two regular-season starts and a relief appearance in last year’s NLCS — he owns a 1.59 ERA over 17 innings.
| Jacob Misiorowski vs. Dodgers | Total |
|---|---|
| Appearances | 3 |
| Starts | 2 |
| Innings | 17 |
| ERA | 1.59 |
| Strikeouts | 27 |
| Walks | 3 |
The assignment gives Milwaukee both the electric arm and the recent history it wants for Game 1. Misiorowski has shown he can overwhelm hitters quickly; Sunday’s question is whether he can stay efficient enough to carry that power deeper into the evening against a Dodgers lineup that knows what is coming.
