Jacob Misiorowski is making hitters look helpless. That much we already knew. But when a two-time All-Star starts taking notes from your delivery, you know you’re doing something special.
The Milwaukee Brewers right-hander threw a complete-game shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday, allowing one hit and striking out 15 over nine innings. It was the kind of start that makes the other dugout stop and stare. And Phillies ace Zach Wheeler was staring pretty hard.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Phillies bench coach Don Mattingly turned to Wheeler during the game and made a comparison. Mattingly, who managed the Marlins from 2016 to 2022, watched plenty of Wheeler and Jacob deGrom when they were with the Mets. He told Wheeler that Misiorowski reminded him of those days.
Wheeler didn’t exactly agree with the take that he looked the same at that age. But he had a different kind of respect for what he was seeing.
“I keep telling people I wish I was that in sync with my body at his age,” Wheeler said. “It would have been a whole different game for me.”
Wheeler Studies Misiorowski’s Mechanics Like a Student
This is where it gets interesting. Wheeler isn’t just impressed. He’s actively studying Misiorowski’s delivery to fix his own.
“Just how fluid he is. There are no glitches, no stops or anything like that,” Wheeler said. “When he picks up and goes, everything is just perfect motion. He’s behind the ball, over his front leg, driving through the ball. I’ve caught myself a couple of times just looking at his clips, just to kind of remind myself, that’s how I want to be. Sometimes, I can get a little too robotic. I watch him or deGrom and think, ‘I need to move like that again.'”
That’s a veteran ace admitting he’s chasing the same mechanical purity a 24-year-old kid has. It doesn’t get much more telling than that.
Misiorowski’s numbers this season are absurd. He’s 8-2 with a 1.34 ERA, 131 strikeouts and a 0.74 WHIP. All three lead Major League Baseball. Over his last eight starts, he’s won seven of them, surrendered just two runs (one earned) and struck out 80 batters. That’s not a hot streak. That’s a full-on takeover.
The Brewers have a legitimate Cy Young candidate on their hands, and Misiorowski is only getting better. He takes the mound again Friday night when Milwaukee visits the Atlanta Braves. Expect Wheeler to be watching.
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