Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski. Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Jacob Misiorowski's incredible MLB start raises Brewers' 2025 ceiling

By Eric Smithling | Last updated Jun 25, 2025 4:55 PM ET

Milwaukee Brewers rookie starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski pitched another gem on Wednesday, adding to his fantastic career start and raising the team's 2025 ceiling.

In a 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, Misiorowski, making his third career start, was once again masterful while improving to 3-0. He pitched five shutout innings, allowing four total base runners with a season-high eight strikeouts.

Through 16 career innings, Misiorowski has a 1.13 ERA. He pitched five no-hit innings in his debut on June 12 vs. the St. Louis Cardinals, followed by a perfect-game bid that was broken up in the seventh against the Minnesota Twins eight days later.

Misiorowski has faced 56 batters, striking out 19 (33.9 percent) and allowing 10 to reach base (17.8 percent), including just three via hit.

Milwaukee's top pitching prospect has a devastating four-seam fastball. Per Baseball Savant, through his first two starts, his average fastball velocity (99.7 mph) ranked in the top one percent among MLB pitchers.

On Wednesday, he out-dueled Pirates flame-throwing ace Paul Skenes, throwing the 16 fastest pitches and 19 of at least 100 mph.

MLB's social media team highlighted one sequence against Pirates first baseman Spencer Horwitz when Misiorowski threw five consecutive 100 mph four-seam fastballs, ending in a strikeout.

Jacob Misiorowski is throwing FIRE today pic.twitter.com/v3Ba8YDPtp
— MLB (@MLB) June 25, 2025

With Misiorowski nearly unhittable to start his career, the Brewers have one of the league's deepest rotations.

It's a far cry from the beginning of the season, when Milwaukee allowed 47 runs through its first four games.

The Brewers were 13th in team ERA (3.86) entering Wednesday, up from 21st between Opening Day on March 27 and May 24 (4.01), per FanGraphs.

Over the past month, the Brewers rank fourth (3.41), leading to a 19-8 record, tied with the Houston Astros for MLB's best win percentage during that span.

Misiorowski has been the best member of the rotation, but Freddy Peralta, Jose Quintana and Quinn Priester have also looked sharp as the Brewers have morphed into arguably the primary challenger to the Chicago Cubs (46-33) for first in the NL Central.

With Chicago sporting one of the game's top offenses, Milwaukee needs as many quality arms as it can find to win its third consecutive division title and fourth in the past five seasons.

The Brewers (45-36) are two games behind the Cubs, which have lost three consecutive games and face the Cardinals in St. Louis (44-36) later on Wednesday.

If Misiorowski and the rest of Milwaukee's pitching staff are as good as their recent numbers indicate, it won't be long until a new leader emerges in the NL Central clubhouse.

Eric Smithling

Eric Smithling is a writer based in New Orleans, LA, whose byline also appears on Athlon Sports. He has been with Yardbarker since September 2022, primarily covering the NFL and college football, but also the NBA, WNBA, men’s and women’s college basketball, NHL, tennis and golf. He holds a film studies degree from the University of New Orleans

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