MINNEAPOLIS — “How does anyone ever get a hit off this guy?” is a common rhetorical question when a highly touted pitching prospect gets called up to the majors and immediately dominates.
And through Milwaukee Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski’s first 11 innings in the big leagues, the answer was: They didn’t.
Misiorowski threw five no-hit innings in his MLB debut June 12 against the St. Louis Cardinals before leaving the game three pitches into the sixth inning with calf and quadriceps cramping.
It proved to be a minor issue, and the 23-year-old consensus top-100 prospect made his second career start Friday night versus the Minnesota Twins, taking a perfect game into the seventh inning.
Things unraveled quickly from there as Misiorowski ran out of gas, with Byron Buxton drawing a leadoff walk to break up the perfect game and Matt Wallner yanking a two-run homer down the right-field line to end the no-hitter and the shutout in a 17-6 Brewers victory.
But the 6-foot-7 flame-thrower set the modern MLB record (since 1900) for most consecutive no-hit innings by a starting pitcher to begin a career. And he made quite an impression on everyone at Target Field, from the 28,011 fans in a Brewers-heavy crowd to the hitters in the Twins’ overmatched lineup.
Willi Castro ended up on his backside after facing Jacob Misiorowski’s 96 mph slider. (Ellen Schmidt / Getty Images)
“He simply had an excellent day on the mound,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He got in the zone when he needed to early. I mean, the stuff is good. He’s very good. And he was able to put the ball where he wanted to.”
Even his counterpart on the mound, Twins starter Joe Ryan, came away impressed with the rookie after allowing three runs to the Brewers over 5 1/3 innings in a 17-6 game that got away from the Twins late.
“Misiorowski was great,” Ryan said. “I’ve actually seen some videos of him in the minors. He’s got some of the best stuff in the big leagues. He’s pretty electric.”
FILTHY: Jacob Misiorowski just unleashed a 96 MPH slider 🤯 pic.twitter.com/O2fcXNGBJJ
— MLB (@MLB) June 21, 2025
Misiorowski averaged 100.4 mph with his fastball, topping out at 102.1 mph, and his mid-90s slider produced some of the ugliest swings you’ll ever see from a major-league team, including a particularly helpless whiff from Willi Castro that will probably be a permanent fixture on highlight reels.
“His slider was obviously really hard,” Castro said. “He was dominating with that. Slider was 95, 96. You don’t see that very often. It’s really hard to pick up. He’s really good.”
And then just for good measure, Misiorowski struck out Kody Clemens with a 93.9 mph changeup — one of only two he threw all game — that was possibly his most unhittable offering in a night full of them.
Jacob Misiorowski, Ridiculous 94mph Changeup. 😲
And Sword. ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/D4e9teSXlW
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 21, 2025
Misiorowski threw 29 pitches at least 100 mph Friday, which is more than all but 23 starting pitchers have thrown, total, during the pitch-tracking era (since 2008). He threw only four fastballs below 99 mph all night, and three of them came in the seventh inning.
Misiorowski is one of the most-hyped pitching prospects in baseball and racked up 320 strikeouts compared to just 138 hits allowed in 233 2/3 minor-league innings, with shaky control (5.4 walks per nine innings) qualifying as his biggest weakness.
But when his control is dialed in like it was Friday against the shell-shocked Twins, throwing 60 of 86 pitches for strikes, it’s hard to imagine many starters in baseball history ever having more overpowering raw stuff.
“(Misiorowski) has excellent stuff and he threw strikes,” Baldelli said. “We wanted to challenge him to throw strikes and force him in the zone. He did. He pounded the zone with all of his stuff.”
The only good news for the Twins, who lost for the 11th time in 14 games: They won’t have to face Misiorowski again until next season. His next scheduled start is Tuesday in Milwaukee against the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have the lowest-scoring offense in MLB. Good luck.
(Top photo: Ellen Schmidt / Getty Images)
