Get ready to hear more of it. Misiorowski, the 6-foot-7 Brewers right-hander with a fastball that’s been clocked as high as 103.0 mph, was named a National League All-Star on Friday as a replacement for Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd, who will be inactive.
The honor came just one month after Misiorowski’s memorable Major League debut, one year after he was pitching in the All-Star Futures Game and three years after the Brewers made him their second-round Draft pick.
If it seems like an unusually quick ascent from MLB debut to MLB All-Star, it’s because it is the quickest ever. Skenes’ 11 career games before he was an All-Star last season represented the fewest before Misiorowski came along, according to Elias.
Misiorowski will have five career games on his MLB resume when he enjoys All-Star Week festivities in Atlanta, where he’s likely to be a sensation.
“If he does what he’s supposed to do and what everybody thinks he can do, it’s not going away anytime soon,” Skenes said after their matchup in a 4-2 Brewers win on June 25. “So, get used to it and find ways to find peace and that kind of thing with it.”
Misiorowski has appeared quite comfortable so far. He is 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 25 2/3 innings since his arrival, and he has held opposing hitters to a .138 average. Take away one poor start against the Mets, when his velocity dipped, his command faltered and Brandon Nimmo touched him for a second-inning grand slam, and Misiorowski’s ERA is 1.23 in his other four starts.
His most recent outing against Kershaw and the Dodgers on Tuesday might have been the most eye-popping. Misiorowski gave up a leadoff home run to Shohei Ohtani and then put on a strikeout clinic against the best lineup in the NL, whiffing 12 of the next 16 hitters on the way to completing six commanding innings of a 3-1 win.
He topped out at 101.6 mph while striking out Ohtani in a third-inning rematch.
“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.”
“I saw something online that [Kershaw] didn’t know who I was,” Misiorowski said. “I hope that he knows me now, you know? It’s kind of cool.”
Misiorowski’s angry fastball and aw-shucks demeanor has made him an instant hit in Milwaukee, where even his off-day endeavors were newsworthy. He spent Thursday on a Miller Brewery tour in the shadow of American Family Field.
“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.”
