How would Misiorowski compare to other young Brewers Opening Day starters?

PHOENIX – If Jacob Misiorowski gets the nod for the Brewers to start Opening Day against the White Sox, he would be one of the greenest pitchers in franchise history to get that honor. He would also be one of the most electric.

For the record: the Brewers have made no such pronouncement, preferring to let Misiorowski and the rest of their young rotation candidates work in peace toward a regular season that begins March 26 at American Family Field. With Quinn Priester bound for the injured list to begin the year and Brandon Woodruff stressing that his priority is being ready in September and October – not March – it’s increasingly evident that the Brewers will have to hand the ball to one of their less experienced arms. And with only 12 days to go, they haven’t said who that will be.

Might it be The Miz?

“I’m ready to go now. Let’s do it,” Misiorowski said after logging four innings against the Rockies on Saturday.

Has he been advised where he will line up to begin the regular season?

“You guys are in the same boat as me,” Misiorowski said. “Even if I did, I don’t know if I’m allowed to tell you.”

The 23-year-old, coming off 14 starts and one relief appearance as a rookie in 2025, plus two more excellent long relief outings in the postseason, pushed his pitch count to 70 against the Rockies over four innings, then threw some more in the bullpen before calling it a day. He struck out six while allowing two runs on four hits – both of the runs and three of the hits coming in the first inning before he settled in. He topped out at 99.7 mph, also in the first.

Misiorowski and the Brewers’ other starters have generally been pitching on six-day intervals, part of a plan to prioritize rest and health coming off a 2025 season extended by two postseason rounds. Were he to stay on that schedule, he would make one more Spring Training start on March 20 against the D-backs, lining him up to start Opening Day six days after that.

Of course, that can change. Teams regularly add or subtract off-days for pitchers at the end of Spring Training, as the Brewers may do for Brandon Sproat, who followed Misiorowski on Saturday with 4 2/3 innings when he finished out an 8-4 win.

And an off-day built into the schedule on March 27 means anything is possible, including an opener.

Whatever the plan, manager Pat Murphy was not ready to share it. Ahead of Misiorowski taking the mound, the skipper headed off questions about Opening Day in a hallway chat with reporters first thing Saturday morning, before anyone could even ask.

But with Misiorowski a possibility, MLB.com’s research desk looked at the least-experienced Opening Day starters in Brewers franchise history.

MLB starts prior to starting Brewers’ Opening Day
4 - Marty Pattin (1969)+
9 - Rafael Roque (1999)
14 - Jacob Misiorowski (2026?)
19 - Jim Colborn (1973)
20 - Junior Guerra (2017)
+ Seattle Pilots

Pattin had logged a full season with the Angels the year before he started against the Angels on Opening Day for the expansion Pilots, making 48 relief appearances for California in addition to his four starts. Colborn was a similar case, with 93 appearances over parts of four seasons for the Cubs and Brewers before he made the first of his two Brewers Opening Day starts in '73.

So the better comp for a possible Misiorowski Opening Day assignment is Roque, who’d gone 4-2 with a 4.88 ERA as a rookie in 1998. He was lined up that spring to begin the year as the fifth starter, but manager Phil Garner made the surprise decision to move him up to Opening Day against the Cardinals in place of a banged-up Scott Karl, thereby keeping the other starters on schedule.

• MLB’s forgotten Opening Day starting pitchers

Roque was out of the game by the third inning, though the Brewers managed to win the game. He was 0-4 with a 6.35 ERA through his first eight starts when Garner moved Roque to the bullpen. He made one more start in June, the last big league start of his career.

None of that portends anything for Misiorowski, if he gets the honor.

But with one Cactus League start still to come, he wasn’t ready to talk about the regular season.

“I still have another outing,” Misiorowski said. “I have to worry about that, and worry about getting my stuff ready for the season before the season actually happens.”