MILWAUKEE -- Jacob Misiorowski needed just one pitch to make World Series history.
The Brewers’ flamethrowing ace opened Game 1 of the World Series against the Rays on Friday night with a 103.5 mph four-seam fastball to Yandy Díaz, immediately establishing a new standard for velocity on baseball’s biggest stage.
The pitch sailed well above the strike zone. But the message was unmistakable.
Misiorowski had brought his heat to the Fall Classic.
The 103.5 mph offering was the fastest pitch thrown in World Series history since pitch tracking began in 2008, surpassing the previous record of 103.2 mph set by Aroldis Chapman for the Cubs in Game 2 of the 2016 Fall Classic.
And Misiorowski wasn’t exactly easing into his first World Series start.
Of his 13 pitches in the opening inning, 11 were four-seam fastballs. Ten of those registered above 101 mph, including five that topped 102 mph. Only one of his four-seamers dipped below triple digits, clocking in at a relatively modest 99.8 mph.
The Rays managed two singles, one from Jonathan Aranda and another from Chandler Simpson, but Misiorowski escaped unscathed when Junior Caminero lined into an inning-ending 5-4 double play.
It was a scoreless first inning, and another entry in an increasingly remarkable collection of velocity records for the 24-year-old.
Before Friday, only 13 pitches had reached 102 mph in World Series play during the pitch-tracking era. Ten belonged to Chapman, with Brusdar Graterol accounting for two and Kelvin Herrera one.
Misiorowski’s velocity is even more unprecedented among starting pitchers.
The previous fastest tracked World Series pitch by a starter was a 101.1 mph fastball from the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard in Game 3 of the 2015 World Series. Before Friday, starting pitchers had combined to throw just 18 pitches of at least 100 mph in the Fall Classic since tracking began.
Of course, rewriting the radar-gun record books has become something of a routine for Misiorowski.
He averaged 100.6 mph with his four-seam fastball during a dominant regular season in which he posted a 1.80 ERA and led the Majors with 252 strikeouts.
His first pitch of the postseason, a 104.8 mph heater against the Padres in Game 1 of the NLDS, was the fastest tracked postseason pitch ever. He went on to throw 52 pitches at 100 mph or harder that afternoon, the most by any pitcher in a single postseason game.
Now, on the biggest stage of them all, Misiorowski has another record to his name.
And he needed all of one pitch to claim it.