MILWAUKEE -- So much has happened, in such short order, for the Brewers’ 6-foot-7 unicorn of a pitcher, that it’s worth noting that only 17 months have passed since Jacob Misiorowski stepped foot in the big leagues.
He arrived as a thrower. Now, he’s a pitcher. And he’s a unanimous National League Cy Young Award winner.
Misiorowski on Wednesday became the 17th NL pitcher to win the award from the Baseball Writers' Association of America by a unanimous vote, and second in a row after the Pirates’ Paul Skenes last year. Just like unanimous AL Cy Young Award winner Cam Schlittler of the Yankees, Misiorowski made it an easy ballot by leading not only NL starters but all Major League starters during the regular season in ERA (1.80), strikeouts (252), walks plus hits per inning pitched (0.80), strikeouts per nine innings (12.98) and opponents’ average (.157), the last of which made him the most difficult starting pitcher to hit in any full season on record. If you prefer more advanced stats, he also led the Majors in fielding independent pitching (2.17), adjusted ERA (232) and in Statcast’s “expected” stats across the board.
It represented a fittingly big step forward for a pitcher who stands nearly seven feet tall in spikes. After making an early splash as a rookie in 2025, Misiorowski lost his hold on his spot in the starting rotation down the stretch and narrowly made the postseason roster as a reliever. But in 2026, he was the Brewers’ unquestioned choice for Opening Day and three Game 1s in the postseason.
“I definitely don’t want to say it was easy. I don’t think anything in the big leagues is easy,” Misiorowski said. “But one of the biggest hurdles to jump was just trusting my stuff and getting past that mental part of the game, and getting over that hump.”
It's the third time that both Cy Young Awards were unanimous. Before Misiorowski and Schlittler, there were the Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara and the Astros’ Justin Verlander in 2022, and the Tigers’ Denny McLain and Cardinals’ Bob Gibson in 1968.
“It’s really cool, the youth coming up in the big leagues,” Misiorowski said. “It’s going to be fun to watch for years to come.”
Brewers fans certainly hope so, because Misiorowski Day was an event. He topped out at 105.5 mph along the way. No other starter has thrown that hard since pitch tracking began in 1988. Or, perhaps, ever.
“He’s come a long way,” Brewers captain Christian Yelich said last month. “He’s come a long way since last year when he was a kid with a lot of ability and a lot of natural talent. Anybody could see [from] looking at the radar gun what he can do. I think he’s come a long way in learning himself as a pitcher, and he’s still learning, I think, in a lot of ways.
“But he’s matured a bit. He’s gotten to know himself a lot. He’s gotten confident. And he continues to get better, which is kind of crazy from the stuff he’s done.”
The stuff Misiorowski has done by age 24 is rather remarkable.
He’s the seventh pitcher to win a Cy Young Award in either league in his second season, joining Schlittler (2026, only 30 minutes or so ahead of Misiorowski), Skenes (2025), the Giants’ Tim Lincecum (2008), the Royals’ Bret Saberhagen (1985), the Mets’ Dwight Gooden (1985) and the Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela (1981). Valenzuela was a rookie, but he had a taste of the big leagues in the prior season. No pitcher has won a Cy Young Award in his true first season.
It’s the fourth time that both Cy Young Award winners were 25 or younger at the end of a season. Misiorowski and Schlittler joined Zack Greinke and Lincecum (2009), Gooden and Saberhagen (1985) and McLain and Tom Seaver (1969).
Misiorowski is the fourth Brewers pitcher to win a Cy Young Award, with 2021 NL winner Corbin Burnes, 1982 AL winner Pete Vuckovich and 1981 AL winner Rollie Fingers, who took it home in the same season that he also won the AL MVP Award.
And while voters could not have known it while crafting their ballots, which were due prior to the first pitch of the MLB postseason, Misiorowski is the seventh pitcher to win a World Series-clinching game and a Cy Young Award in the same year. Here is that list of charmed arms:
2001 Randy Johnson, D-backs
1988 Orel Hershiser, Dodgers
1985 Bret Saberhagen, Royals
1980 Steve Carlton, Phillies
1965 Sandy Koufax, Dodgers
1963 Sandy Koufax, Dodgers
1958 Bob Turley, Yankees
No wonder Brewers manager (and three-time NL Manager of the Year Award winner) Pat Murphy started calling Misiorowski “Forrest Gump.”
That was in June, by which time it was clear that Misiorowski’s leg-building workouts during the offseason were paying dividends. He was the Brewers' starter on Opening Day against the White Sox and set a club record for a season opener with 11 strikeouts on a day the staff struck out 20. While going 5-0 with a 0.23 ERA in May, Misiorowski came within one pitch of an immaculate – three strikeouts on nine pitches – first inning against Aaron Judge and the Yankees. On June 13, Misiorowski came within one Kyle Schwarber single of throwing a perfect game in a 27-batter, 15-strikeout masterpiece. In July, Misiorowski became an All-Star for the second time in as many seasons in the Majors. On Aug. 15, he beat the Dodgers on the day the Brewers claimed MLB’s best record for good. On Sept. 15, he beat the Pirates on the day Milwaukee clinched the NL Central for the fourth straight year.
All season long, Misiorowski met every challenge.
“It’s the way the young man has become stronger, more certain of himself,” Murphy said. “It’s a joy to watch it. He’s not a finished product, by any stretch. But he’s really jumped a lot of hurdles.”
How could Misiorowski possibly top all of this in 2027?
By getting even better.
“That’s Major League Baseball,” Yelich said. “You’ve got to always continue to try to better yourself and make progress, no matter how much success or lack thereof that you’ve had. You always have to improve, and he’s done a great job of doing that.”
Or, as Misiorowski put it Wednesday night when he was asked that very question about what’s next:
“Do it all again.”