Brewers tab Jacob Misiorowski for NLDS Game 1

In his final start before the postseason, Misiorowski picked up his 16th win and struck out five against two walks. It was a remarkable first full campaign for the 24-year-old, and he finishes the regular season with a 1.90 ERA and a remarkable 252/44 K/BB ratio over 174 2/3 innings. He’ll start Game 1 of the NLDS, either against the Cubs or Padres.

Henderson definitely wasn’t at his sharpest in finishing with three strikeouts and three walks. In fact, it’s the first time in 18 starts this year that he hadn’t have at least twice as many strikeouts as walks. His regular season ends with him 11-3 with 2.47 ERA and a 110/19 K/BB in 98 1/3 innings, and he figures to be the Brewers’ Game 2 starter in the NLDS.

It figured that at least one of Misiorowski’s final two starts would be a short one, and he was pulled after allowing only one baserunner and throwing 44 pitches tonight. The outing lowered his ERA ever so slightly to 1.86. He’s expected to go longer Saturday against the Cardinals and then make a Game 1 start in the NLDS.

Henderson struck out eight, but he gave up a solo homer to Oneil Cruz in the fourth and then a two-run shot to Brandon Lowe in the fifth. It’s the first time in six starts that he’s allowed three runs, and he still hasn’t exceeded that total in 17 starts on the season. He’ll take a 2.51 ERA into a start next week against the Phillies.

Nick Gonzales did Misiorowski a big favor in the fourth, when he had a bad read and decided against trying to score on a groundball single that deflected into the outfield. Ryan O’Hearn saw the ball and assumed Gonzales would keep going, so he was thrown out between second and third. It should have been a 1-1 game with runners on the corners and one out at that point. Instead, Misiorowski escaped the jam without any damage, and he got the win in spite of a rather quick hook after 82 pitches. He’s 15-5 with a 1.89 ERA. Next up for him is probably in start in Philly on Tuesday, unless the Brewers would prefer to have him make a shorter start on four days’ rest Sunday against the Orioles.

Henderson struck out six and walked only one, but some long at-bats did leave him at 95 pitches one batter into the sixth. Fortunately, the Brewers pen protected his lead afterwards, though things did get dicey in the ninth. Henderson moved to 10-3 with a 2.34 ERA. He probably has just two regular-season starts to go, with the next coming in Pittsburgh.

Misirowski threw fastballs on 63 of his 93 pitches and topped out at 104.5 mph before exiting with the scored tied 1-1 tonight. All nine of his strikeouts came on the heater. He’s up to 236 strikeouts for the season, which is the highest total for an NL starter since Spencer Strider came in at 281 in 2023. He should make his next start next Tuesday against the Pirates.

Henderson racked up seven strikeouts on the night and didn’t allow a base on balls. The lone blemish on his day came on a two-run blast off the bat of Pete Crow-Armstrong in the third inning. Unfortunately, that was enough to do him in. Henderson got 13 swings and misses on 102 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 27 percent. Now 9-3 on the season, he’ll carry a brilliant 2.48 ERA, 0.79 WHIP and a 93/14 K/BB ratio (83 1/3 innings) into a rematch against the Cubs at home on Wednesday.

Misiorowski didn’t have it in this start from the jump. He walked Pete Crow-Armstrong to start this game with four straight balls after getting ahead 0-2 on him and then Alex Bregman made him pay just after with a two-run homer. The second inning wasn’t much better as Misiorowski tossed 31 pitches and the Cubs brought home three more runs. For the first time in a while, his command was all over the place as he missed spot after spot. His fastball didn’t even have a 40% zone rate and by his second time around the Cubs’ lineup, he was leading with his cutter. That pitch was erratic too and Misiorowski looked more like the pitcher we saw on his worst days during his rookie season than who he’s become this year. Nevertheless, he’ll have a chance to right the ship against these same Cubs next time out.

Misiorowski punched out six batters on the night while issuing a pair of walks. All of the damage done against him came in the fifth inning as Jared Young smacked an RBI double and scored on an RBI single off the bat of Christopher Morel. The 24-year-old right-hander generated 12 swings and misses on 89 pitches in the ballgame — half of those on his fastball — while posting a CSW of 26 percent. Now 14-5 on the season, he’ll carry a pristine 1.73 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and a 222/35 K/BB ratio (151 innings) into Wednesday’s divisional showdown against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.