MILWAUKEE -- Clayton Kershaw told reporters that he wasn’t familiar with Brewers rookie fireballer Jacob Misiorowski going into their matchup at American Family Field. Misiorowski saw the quote. And then he did something about it.
“I know him now, huh?” Kershaw said.
The 23-year-old Misiorowski gave up a leadoff home run to Shohei Ohtani before staging a strikeout clinic, whiffing 12 of the next 16 hitters on the way to completing six commanding innings of a 3-1 Brewers win over Kershaw and the Dodgers. Before Tuesday, the last pitcher to record 12 strikeouts against the Dodgers was Ohtani, then with the Angels, on June 21, 2023.
Misiorowski’s signature fastball was hot -- he topped out at 101.6 mph on the way to striking out Ohtani in a third-inning rematch -- but it was the secondary stuff that impressed the most in Misiorowski’s fifth career start. Of his 12 strikeouts, only three came with fastballs. Seven were on the curveball and one apiece on the slider and changeup. He generated 21 swings and misses in all, blowing away his previous high of 13 and establishing a new season high for a Brewers pitcher.
It was pitching, which is exactly what the Brewers want to see from the 2022 second-round Draft pick, who ranks No. 21 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100.
“That was super impressive,” Kershaw said. “That was unbelievable. It was really special. I mean, everything. Obviously the velo, but he’s got four pitches, commands the ball and made it -- I mean, I don’t know how you hit that, honestly.”
“Just really good stuff,” said Ohtani via translator Will Ireton. “Aggressive in the zone. But what really stood out to me was his command and control.”
The best part for the Brewers is that Misiorowski is just getting started.
“He’s just broken the shell, man,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He’s just broken the egg and … he’s still got gooey stuff coming off him, all arms and legs. There’s something special about him. I’m excited for him, all of these opportunities and the way it’s happening for him.”
It’s been less than a month since Misiorowski arrived in the Majors, and the opportunities already have included topping 102 mph in a hitless debut against the rival Cardinals, taking a perfect game into the seventh inning at Minnesota, outdueling fellow phenom Paul Skenes and, because this is the Major Leagues and pitching isn’t easy, slogging through his first career start in New York City against the Mets.
Tuesday brought a new challenge with a matchup against future Hall of Famer Kershaw, fresh off joining the 3,000 strikeout club and long a thorn in Milwaukee’s side. The Brewers certainly knew Kershaw, but the 37-year-old conceded at the start of this series that he was not yet familiar with Misiorowski.
“I don’t know who I’m pitching against. Is that the guy with the ankle, the twisted-the-ankle-on-the-mound guy?” Kershaw said Monday afternoon, referring to the awkward landing that ended Misiorowski’s June 12 debut. “I know he throws hard. I saw a couple highlights. He throws hard. But so does everybody, except me.”
Said Misiorowski: “I mean, all the respect in the world to face Kershaw, and the 3,000 K's. It’s awesome to see a guy like that and match up against him. I saw something online that he didn’t know who I was, so I hope that he knows me now. It’s kind of cool.”
Kershaw might not throw hard but he can still pitch, especially when spotted a lead one batter into the night. The Brewers managed to get to him with five singles in the fourth inning, starting with table-setting base hits from William Contreras and Jackson Chourio before newcomer Andrew Vaughn and rookie Isaac Collins cashed in with RBIs for a 2-1 lead.
Misiorowski made that lead hold up, logging his 11th and 12th strikeouts in the fifth inning to move one shy of Freddy Peralta’s franchise rookie record, then working around Ohtani’s leadoff walk and Mookie Betts’ infield single in a gutsy, and scoreless, sixth inning.
“We normally could have taken him out in the sixth,” said Murphy, who has a close eye on Misiorowski’s workload compared to last season, “but his stuff just ticked up in the sixth. We’re like, ‘Keep him in.’ He went through the heart of the order a third time, and that’s not easy against a team like this.”
The Brewers’ defense delivered two huge plays to make it happen, first a diving, backhanded stop from Vaughn at first base and then a nifty fielder’s choice from utility man Andruw Monasterio, who drew the start at third base. With runners at second and third with one out, Monasterio backhanded an Andy Pages bouncer and fired home to deny the Dodgers the tying run.
When Michael Conforto bounced out to first base to end the threat, Misiorowski pumped his fist in celebration.
“I’m going to let you know,” Misiorowski said. “I’m fired up for every out and every inning. Whenever I have a good inning, you’re going to see me get pumped up and fly off the field.”
The Brewers made sure Misiorowski’s fourth victory didn’t get away, with Jared Koenig, Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill combining for three perfect innings while topping out at 99.5 mph, 98.7 mph and 101.3 mph, respectively. All together, the Brewers averaged 99.3 mph with their various varieties of fastballs on Tuesday, matching the Mets (June 5, 2021) for the fastest average fastball velocity in the Statcast era (since 2015).
Misiorowski got it started. His very first pitch to Ohtani was 100.3 mph.
“Kid’s got an absolutely beautiful arm and he loves to compete and have fun,” Megill said. “We can all see it out there. He’s definitely waking up a lot of people right now.”