ST. LOUIS -- Here was the big question jumping off the scorecard on Friday as the Brewers crept closer to clinching the National League Central:
Where does Jacob Misiorowski fit into Milwaukee’s postseason pitching picture?
It doesn’t appear to be in the starting rotation, at least not for the immediate future. So “it certainly will be a consideration,” manager Pat Murphy said, to pitch Misiorowski out of the bullpen for his next outing.
“Obviously, he’s not doing great on the front end here, so that’s got to be a consideration,” Murphy said after pulling Misiorowski in the middle of the fourth inning of the Brewers’ 7-1 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. “We’re certainly not going to put him in the eighth or the ninth, but he can get outs for us and he’s going to develop into a really good pitcher.
“I don’t know what we’ll end up deciding, but I think it’s obvious that right now he’s not on track as a starter. That doesn’t mean he won’t be. He certainly will be in the future.”
Coaches and officials have a little more than a week to settle on a postseason plan for a 23-year-old rookie who two months ago was the talk of baseball, basking in the aftermath of a scoreless inning in the All-Star Game. Now Misiorowski is taking some lumps, including in a second straight shaky start against the Cardinals on Friday in which he was backed by stellar defense but pitched in traffic throughout after St. Louis put the leadoff man aboard in each of the 6-foot-7 right-hander’s four innings on the mound -- walk, walk, double, hit-by-pitch -- and coaxed 77 pitches for 11 outs before he departed with two outs in the fourth and the Brewers facing a 2-1 deficit.
“I was hoping for a little bit more,” Misiorowski said, “but at the same time, I wasn’t getting the ground balls that were necessary for that. So, you know, it’s kind of on me.”
Misiorowski then watched the Cardinals pull away against three Milwaukee relievers in a five-run fifth to take the opener of this three-game series. But the night wasn’t a total loss. The Brewers inched closer to the division crown when the Cubs lost to the Reds in Cincinnati, leaving Milwaukee six games up with eight to play, and a chance to clinch as soon as Sunday.
Misiorowski fell to 1-2 with 5.45 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP in nine starts since the All-Star break, after he was 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP in five starts before the break. He has recorded an out beyond the fifth in one second-half start: a gem in Pittsburgh on Sept. 7, when he held the Pirates to one run and struck out eight in seven sharp innings.
Since that start is the outlier, Brewers officials have been discussing moving Misiorowski to the bullpen before a best-of-five NL Division Series beginning Saturday, Oct. 4, provided they wrap up the division and secure one of the top two seeds. Because of the extra off-day between Games 1 and 2 of that round, it requires only three starting pitchers, so the Brewers could go with Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff and Quinn Priester in some order, pushing Misiorowski to the relief group.
“He’s closed in Triple-A, so he’s familiar,” pitching coach Chris Hook said, referring to Misiorowski’s bullpen stint in Nashville last season. “Has he done it here? No. Will there be an opportunity for him to do that in the next nine days? I don’t know. We’re going to see. There may be a spot to do that to make sure he’s acclimated, and that gives us some flexibility whichever way we need to go.”
What a bullpen move would mean should the Brewers advance to the best-of-seven rounds is another open question. Jose Quintana should be ready to return from a calf strain by then. Chad Patrick is a length option. The Brewers could also lean on a multi-inning lefty like Aaron Ashby or, if they are healthy, DL Hall or Robert Gasser.
Whatever happens, Murphy prefers to push any decision on Misiorowski as far into the future as possible. But the time may have come.
“You don’t really need to put anything in his brain right now except get hitters out, which he’s got to be better at,” Murphy said. “That’s all there is to it. He’s got great talent and he’s developing as a pitcher. He’s done some good things, but he's got to be better. …
“I think it’s good for him to go through it. It’s hard to watch sometimes; it’s hard to watch him go through it because you want to grab him and tell him, ‘Hey, Miz, I swear to you this is going to pass but focus on these things.’ There’s a process in place. People mature when they mature. He has the awareness that he needs to keep adjusting. But this is the part you wish you could speed up.”
For everyone, it’s a reminder that pitching in the Major Leagues isn’t easy. Even with a triple-digit fastball.
“You’ve got to move on and keep doing your thing in between the starts,” Misiorowski said. “Keep having fun.”
Is that hard to do right now?
“Yeah, of course,” he said. “You struggle a little bit, it’s never fun.”