MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers’ pitching phenom has decided to run, Jacob, run with his manager’s favorite nickname.
Jacob Misiorowski posted an AI-generated image of himself as Forrest Gump on Instagram last weekend, one day after Misiorowski faced the minimum 27 batters, struck out 15 of them and finished a dazzling, one-hit shutout against the Phillies that had Brewers manager Pat Murphy once again conjuring one of his favorite Tom Hanks films.
“Amazing young man, he really is. Forrest Gump-like, you know what I mean?” Murphy said afterward. “He’s amazingly real, naive to a lot of things, and it’s beautiful. He goes out and lets it eat.”
The 6-foot-7 righty, who is scheduled to make his next start Friday night against the Braves at Truist Park, has been known as “our Forrest Gump” to Murphy ever since Misiorowski burst onto the big league scene last season with a series of no-hit bids, followed by triumphs over the likes of Paul Skenes and Clayton Kershaw, followed by an invitation to pitch in the All-Star Game with only five Major League starts under his belt.
It’s not exactly meeting three U.S. presidents, winning the Medal of Honor, becoming a shrimp boater and running from coast to coast, but you can see the parallels.
Murphy, of course, meant the comparison in the best possible sense.
“For sure, it’s meant to be a compliment to a guy who didn’t put any limits on himself,” Murphy said. “[Gump’s] naivete was a factor in a positive way, where he went out and achieved whatever he set his mind to and didn’t let outside forces -- wasn’t even aware of outside forces.
“That’s how greatness is sometimes achieved, and this kid is on his way. I really do mean it as a compliment in every sense of the word.”
Murphy appreciated the chance to clarify, because he worried the Forrest Gump comparison might offend Misiorowski. To the contrary, Misiorowski found it hilarious when his agent forwarded an image of Misiorowski’s head imposed on Gump’s body.
So, he shared it via social media.
“[Murphy] has called me that ever since I’ve been here, even my first big league Spring Training. He’s always called me Forrest,” Misiorowski said. “It’s funny. I think he means it in a good way.”
Gump’s character is simple to the point he’s sometimes unaware. That’s not Misiorowski, according to those who know him best and describe him as one of the Brewers’ most intense competitors. It’s among the intangibles that has helped Misiorowski go 8-2 this season with the Majors’ best ERA (1.34) and WHIP (0.74) among qualifiers along with an MLB-leading 131 strikeouts. He has allowed one earned run over his last eight starts.
Maybe “cerebral” is not the right word. But he does his homework.
“It’s like, ‘I want to be the best, so I’m going to watch the best and then get better at whatever they do,’” said Brewers pitching coach Chris Hook. “That’s work, that’s on the mound, that’s in the weight room, that’s with the trainers. [Veteran pitcher Brandon] Woodruff has helped him with that. But it’s like, he wants to be the best. He wants to be great, and that’s a lot that goes into that.”
Part of that, even for a pitcher with a 104 mph fastball, is digesting the complex scouting reports that come at players these days. Hook tailors those reports to each pitcher based on how much or how little he wants to know, and said Misiorowski has made great strides toward figuring out what he likes from those sessions.
But he certainly doesn’t overthink.
“He’s in a beautiful spot where he doesn’t understand the magnitude of what he’s doing,” Woodruff said. “We’ll see how the season unfolds, but if he stays on this trajectory he’s on track to win every award there is. As well he should. One day, he’s going to look back and appreciate that nobody can do what he does right now.”
There’s a bittersweet tinge to Woodruff’s voice. He once threw 100 mph and is now trying to stay healthy and reinvent himself in the aftermath of shoulder surgery.
“I’m like a proud papa,” Woodruff said. “Maybe I had an effect on his mentality. If it was me, I’ve told him, I would never throw a breaking ball, ever. Go be yourself. Stay in your beautiful spot.”
The Forrest Gump meme wasn’t the only message keeping Misiorowski’s phone buzzing in the wake of his last outing, as the magnitude of his performance set in.
At 2 a.m., more than five hours after his final pitch, he finally started to get it.
“It was like, ‘Holy [expletive], what did I just do?’” Misiorowski said. “Right afterward, I was so full of adrenaline I forgot to do all of my arm care. I had to do that [the next day]. I was out of it. Usually I’m out of the game and have time to do my arm care and get back out to give high fives to the guys.
“Everything happened fast. The game was over and I was like, ‘What do I do?’”
Chalk it up as another amazing experience for Milwaukee’s Forrest Gump.
And Misiorowski plans to keep on running.
“That’s the goal every time,” Misiorowski said.