On Opening Day, the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski filled the shoes of Freddy Peralta

The Brewers’ 23-year-old was historically dominant in his Opening Day rout of the White Sox

Another year of baseball is here, and the Milwaukee Brewers have already flashed a pitching nightmare on the mound. The notorious “pitching lab” that the Brewers are often described as struck again on Opening Day 2026.

In the past few years, the Brewers have waved goodbye to several high-profile pitchers, both in the rotation and the bullpen. The Baltimore Orioles traded for 2021 Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes prior to the 2024 season. Devin Williams, a reliever with a changeup that carries its own nickname, also departed via trade that offseason. Most recently, the Mets traded for Brewers ace Freddy Peralta this past offseason, in exchange for top prospects Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams.

Despite moving several top arms, the Brewers still watched a gem on the mound from their No. 1 starter. This year, that No. 1 starter is flamethrowing youngster Jacob Misiorowski, who’s entering his first full season in the big leagues.

Misiorowski had quite the busy rookie season in 2025, making a ton of noise along the way. The Brewers called up Misiorowski on June 10, and just a month later, he was named an injury replacement to the All-Star game. At the time, he had only pitched in five major league games.

At the end of the season, Misiorowski moved to the back end of the bullpen to better optimize his elite velocity. Misiorowski flirted with 104 MPH in October, putting up a 1.50 ERA across three Postseason games.

In 2026, Misiorowski is back atop the Brewers’ rotation, and proved exactly why he got the first start of the season.

Breaking records… in four innings

The dominant outing from Jacob Misiorowski can be described by several stats, but one record all but illustrates the scene perfectly. In only four innings, Jacob Misiorowski broke the Brewers’ franchise record for the most strikeouts in an Opening Day outing.

Misiorowski tied the record of eight at the start of the inning, and finished the frame with 10 punchouts. In the following inning, he fanned an eleventh batter to complete five frames of one-run baseball. This was the final line for the 23-year-old:

• 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 11 K — 94 pitches

Misiorowski found himself in deep counts, but ultimately proved dominant in the box score. One of the two hits was a leadoff home run from Chase Meidroth on a 3-2 pitch that came at the shock of just about everyone at American Family Field.

After the leadoff shot, Misiorowski was basically untouchable for the remainder of the game. His ability to get the swing-and-miss— which he did 25 times— was simply unfair. Throughout his outing, there were virtually zero opportunities for the White Sox to string anything together.

Filling Freddy’s shoes

While Misiorowski’s coming-out party was an absolute blast, it’ll need to become a weekly occurrence. Now officially the Brewers’ ace, Misiorowski will be counted on for not just results, but also consistent length.

The vacancy at the top of the depth chart is due to the trade of Freddy Peralta in January. Peralta made the Opening Day start for Milwaukee in both 2024 and 2025, prior to departing the club. He entered elite status in 2025, holding down a 2.70 ERA across 176.2 innings.

For a team with playoff aspirations, starting a pitcher on Opening Day who pitched out of the bullpen to end 2025 is certainly unusual. However, the stuff from Misiorowski is one-of-one, and it’s the reason why the Brewers can make it work.

Nasty, nasty arsenal

Overpowering velocity and movement is the engine that drives Jacob Misiorowski to success. At 6’7″, Misiorowski makes the most of every inch of his tall, lanky frame. Here’s what the right-hander has in his bag:

• 98-100 MPH Four-Seam Fastball
• 93-95 MPH Slider
• 86-88 MPH Curveball

The pure velocity jumps off the page first and foremost. In 2025, no pitcher threw a slider harder than 92 MPH on average. The typical slider velocity from a right-handed pitcher was 86.6 MPH. In Misiorowski’s arsenal, the slider is much closer to the average four-seam fastball velocity.

On top of that pitch, Misiorowski hammers home a hard curveball that breaks 25″ in the opposite direction of his fastball. He only used it 15% of the time, however Misiorowski earned four whiffs on six swings against the pitch.

Overall, the weapons at the 23-year-old’s disposal are incredible. Against the budding White Sox lineup, Misiorowski ran an absurd 58% Whiff Rate. To put that into simple terms, Jacob Misiorowski got 25 whiffs on 43 swings from the White Sox batters.

The MLB average for Whiff Rate was an even 25% in 2025. So no, a 58% whiff rate over 94 pitches is not common by any means.

All in all, Misiorowski is looking to become far more than just a “Statcast darling” in 2026. The early indication? He’s more than capable. The Brewers will need big production out of their new young ace, and on Opening Day, Misiorowski sure looked the part.