Jacob

Misiorowski

Misiorowski delivered an electric postseason performance, setting a Brewers franchise record with nine punchouts while retiring 15 of the 19 batters he faced in a dazzling bulk relief outing. He was summoned in the opening frame after lefty Aaron Ashby gave up an early run and whiffed both Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández to prevent any further damage. The 23-year-old strikeout artist traded zeroes with fellow towering flamethrower Tyler Glasnow into the middle innings with both hurlers benefitted greatly from the late-afternoon shadows at Dodger Stadium. Things finally unraveled in the sixth when the rookie seemed to hit the metaphorical wall, surrendering a go-ahead single to Tommy Edman following a leadoff single by Will Smith and a walk to ensuing batter Freddie Freeman. Misiorowski figures to be available later in the series for an all-hands-on-deck situation if the Brewers can somehow send the series back to Milwaukee.

It was initially thought that veteran lefty Jose Quintana would make a bulk relief appearance on Thursday night in Los Angeles, but it seems the Brewers want to save him for a critical Game 4 showdown instead. Misiorowski, who will follow lefty opener Aaron Ashby in this one, allowed one run over four innings to pick up the win in last weekend’s NLDS-clinching Game 5 win over the Cubs. The hard-throwing 23-year-old rookie righty holds a pristine 1.29 ERA over seven innings across two appearances this postseason. It’s a small sample size, but the results back up the belief many held that he would be a dominant bullpen arm if he ever made the switch to a full-time relief role.

It didn’t seem like Misiorowski would have this kind of night when he came out with less velocity than in Game 2 and gave up a homer to the very first batter he faced in Seiya Suzuki. However, he had both of his breaking balls working and ended up throwing just 17 fastballs over his 54 pitches. He’ll again be a big part of the Brewers’ plan of attack in the NLCS, even if he continues to work in relief.

Neither team is ready to name a starter for the win-or-go-home contest. It seems awfully likely that the Brewers will pitch Jacob Misiorowski at some point, but it’ll likely be behind an opener. The right-hander topped out at 104.3 mph while compiling a 35 percent CSW in Game 2.

The Brewers used eight pitchers tonight, with only Misiorowski, the third man in, completing two innings. Misiorowski averaged 101.5 mph with his 35 fastballs, topping out at 104.3 mph, and finished up with a nice 35% CSW. One imagines he’ll be a factor again in Game 5 if the series goes the distance.

Misiorowski’s role heading into the postseason remains a bit unclear following his late-season struggles. However, the hard-throwing 23-year-old and fellow former top prospect Robert Gasser are expected to factor greatly into Milwaukee’s pitching plans with veteran Brandon Woodruff (lat) out of the mix. Jose Quintana, Quinn Priester and Chad Patrick are also on the roster as starting options in the best-of-five series against the division-rival Cubs. The other notable development is Andrew Vaughn getting the nod with Rhys Hoskins being left off the roster entirely.

It’s a massive development for the playoff-bound Brewers with manager Pat Murphy adding that Woodruff has been diagnosed with a moderate strain and that it’s too early to determine his postseason availability. The 32-year-old veteran will undergo further evaluation after suffering the injury earlier this weekend during a routine bullpen session. He’s in clear jeopardy of missing the playoffs with his potential absence likely thrusting some combination of top prospect Jacob Misiorowski and left-handers Robert Gasser and Jose Quintana (calf) into a more prominent roles at the outset of October behind Freddy Peralta and Quinn Priester.

“It’s obvious that that right now he’s not on track as a starter, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be,” said Murphy after Misiorowski lasted just 3 2/3 innings on Friday in a loss to the Cardinals. “He certainly will be in the future.” The 23-year-old rookie makes a ton of sense for Milwaukee as a flame-throwing multi-inning relief weapon, especially with closer Trevor Megill working his way back from a flexor strain. The hard-throwing phenom has struggled his last couple times out and has worked beyond the fifth just once in his previous five starts since August 26.

The rookie right-hander also walked three batters on the night while striking out three. Despite the ample traffic on the bases against him, the Cardinals were only able to scratch out single runs in each of the first two frames. Misiorowski got 12 swings and misses on 77 pitches on the evening — seven on his fastball which averaged 99.4 mph — while posting a CSW of 27 percent. The 23-year-old hurler now sits at 5-3 on the season with a 4.38 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and an 84/28 K/BB ratio across 63 2/3 innings. He’ll try to bounce back and finish the regular season on a high note when he squares off against the Padres in San Diego on Wednesday.

The rookie right-hander struck out four batters on the night while issuing one free pass. He had a hard time keeping the ball in the yard in this one, giving up a solo shot to Ivan Herrera in the opening inning and another to Brendan Donovan in the third. Misiorowski generated nine whiffs on 75 pitches on the evening, posting a CSW of 27 percent. He sits at 5-2 on the season with a 4.35 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and an 81/25 K/BB ratio across 60 innings of work. He’ll do battle against these same Cardinals his next time out in St. Louis on Friday.