Jacob Misiorowski was having a dream MLB debut, until one awkward step forced him to exit the ballgame.
The Milwaukee Brewers prospect took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before exiting with an apparent ankle injury. His final line: five-plus innings, zero hits, three walks, five strikeouts and 81 pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals.
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The injury appeared to occur when Misiorowski caught a spike while walking on the mound after a pitch, twisting his ankle. He appeared to be in good spirits while the Brewers training staff checked on him, but the team took no chances with an arm considered to be a cornerstone of its future.
Brewers reliever Nick Mears entered the game for Misiorowski behind 3-0 in the count against Victor Scott II and walked him, but finished out a hitless sixth inning. Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras led off the seventh inning with a single to break up the no-hit bid.
Among the 81 pitches the 6-foot-7 Misiorowski threw, 14 of them were above 100 mph per Statcast. Every slider and changeup he threw was also above 90 mph. He topped out at 102.2 mph, on his fifth pitch of the game.
The Brewers drafted Misiorowski out of Crowder (Mo.) Junior College in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft, giving an above-slot $2.35 million to one of the draft’s most high-risk, high-reward prospects.
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So far, it’s been mostly reward so far. Misiorowski ranks 68th overall on MLB Pipeline’s top 100 and as Milwaukee’s fourth-best prospect, with a fastball graded as an 80 (elite), a 70 curveball (plus-plus) and a 60 slider (plus).
While he has some of the best stuff of any pitcher in the minors, his control has held him back. Just this year, he walked 12.3% of Triple-A batters before his call-up, but offset it with a 31.6% strikeout rate. While walks are a concern, the Brewers aren’t going to be too worried if he’s dominating batters like Wednesday.
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