Miz needs 'only' 101.5 mph to shut down Cubs as Crew take over 1st place

CHICAGO -- The questioner meant no malice with his word choice to Cubs manager Craig Counsell. To paraphrase: With the way he lights up the radar gun, is Jacob Misiorowski a freak?

Counsell pondered. His Cubs were about to face some of the budding ace’s best work in the Brewers’ 5-2 win at Wrigley Field, moving Milwaukee (28-18) back into first place by one-half game over St. Louis (28-19) and Chicago (29-20) in the National League Central.

“I think by definition, the starting pitcher that throws the hardest in the game is going to be called that, yeah,” Counsell said. “Look, he’s throwing really hard. And he’s throwing velocities that we haven’t seen from starting pitchers, especially recently.

“So, yeah. When somebody’s doing something in the game that really hasn’t been done before …”

Counsell’s voice trailed off, and he shrugged his shoulders.

Cubs hitters were doing the same after striking out eight times on a night Misiorowski was down in velocity -- if 101 mph can qualify as “down” -- but delivered six scoreless innings while running his Major League-leading strikeout total to 88 and his scoreless innings streak to 24 1/3 -- with all of those innings logged during a nearly untouchable month of May.

The Brewers have surged right along with the 24-year-old righty, winning 15 of their last 20 games and winning or splitting seven consecutive series, with a chance to finish a three-game sweep of their chief rivals on Wednesday night behind left-hander Kyle Harrison.

“I don’t know how much more there is to say about ‘Miz,’” said Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell, whose RBI single in the first inning provided a lead that lasted all night. “You get excited when he goes out there on the bump, because you know he’s going to compete. That trickles down to everyone else.”

Some trouble with the Wrigley Field mound meant Misiorowski didn’t flash the same peak velocities as he showed in previous starts against the Yankees, when he topped out at 103.6 mph to establish a record for a starting pitcher during the pitch-tracking era (since 2008), or against the Padres, when he was still hitting 103.2 mph in the seventh inning while matching the longest start of his career.

Against the Cubs, Misiorowski was content to sit 99-101 mph while topping out at “only” 101.5 mph.

“The lead plant leg was sliding around a little bit, nothing crazy,” Misiorowski said.

The tradeoff was that he maintained velocity more consistently throughout the outing; his average four-seam fastball velocity was actually up, from 99.6 mph this season going into the game to 99.9 mph against the Cubs.

And he still had plenty of heat when he needed it. With three more strikeouts on pitches at 101.0 mph and above, Misiorowski has 28 in his career during the regular season and postseason, one shy of the Reds’ Hunter Greene for most in the pitch tracking era (2008).

“He was throwing 100, but he’s closer to the plate than anybody else, so it makes the fastball play up,” said Cubs outfielder Ian Happ. “It’s a low release. That pitch is pretty good. When he’s around the zone like he was tonight, it’s going to be tough to string a bunch of hits together.”

After a 26-pitch inning that was stretched by a leadoff walk followed by shortstop David Hamilton’s error on a routine double-play grounder, Misiorowski retired the next 11 batters in a row and 17 of 20. During that 20-batter stretch following Hamilton’s error, Misiorowski secured 18 outs -- six innings’ worth -- on 61 pitches. All three of the Cubs’ hits against him were singles. Misiorowski hasn’t allowed an extra-base hit since Miami’s Kyle Stowers doubled on April 19 – six starts ago. He’s faced 114 batters since then.

Misiorowski’s final flash of triple-digit velocity was a 101.3 mph fastball to Seiya Suzuki in the fourth, but he kept carving through the Cubs’ lineup for two more innings. Misiorowski needed nine pitches in a three-batter fifth inning and eight pitches in a four-batter sixth.

But that was it. After six scoreless innings and 74 pitches (53 strikes), with a 3-0 lead and his season ERA down to 1.89, the Brewers turned the game over to their well-rested bullpen. Recently converted starter Chad Patrick got one of the night’s biggest outs with the bases loaded in the eighth, and Abner Uribe locked down his fifth save.

Misiorowski’s exit was a sign of continuing to learn his limits. Twice in his first three scoreless starts this month, he exited abruptly because of cramping in his drive leg. On Tuesday, he got out ahead of it.

“He ran out of gas. It’s understandable, young kid, throws hard,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He said, ‘Look, I think I can give you this inning, the sixth. Not sure I can give you anything past that.’ He did. He did a great job of it.”

Said Misiorowski: “My body kind of hits a wall. If anything, you just get tired. I was giving it everything I’ve got for six innings and I just hit a wall.”

With each start, the spotlight on Misiorowski is growing brighter. That’s saying something, considering the way he burst onto the Major League scene last season, with wins over Paul Skenes and Clayton Kershaw, and the earliest invitation ever to the All-Star Game.

On Tuesday, MLB.com’s statistical guru Mike Petriello examined the question of whether Misioriowski is the hardest-throwing pitcher of all time. It’s impossible to know for sure, since the technology of the day limits our true understanding of how the likes of Bob Feller, Bob Gibson and Nolan Ryan ran fastballs to home plate. But the mere fact that Misiorowski is in that discussion says he’s an outlier.

Which raises the potential danger of chasing velocity.

“It’s like just emphasizing home runs, right? Or just emphasizing exit velocity or launch angle,” Murphy said. “When you’re just emphasizing one segment, it can take away from performance. It can take away from winning baseball.”

Misiorowski hasn't fallen into that trap, according to Murphy, and the Brewers have three pitching coaches on staff to make sure it stays that way.

“He gets a heavy dose here about pitching,” Murphy said. “Velo is one piece of the pie, and there’s probably 16 or 17 pieces to that pie. It’s not just one piece.”