Jacob Misiorowski is doing things on a mound that still feel a little unreal.
At 6-foot-7, the Brewers right-hander releases the ball 7 ½ feet in front of the rubber, and that alone helps explain why his pitches have looked so explosive. His average perceived velocity sits at 103 mph, with a peak of 107.8 mph. That’s not normal, and it’s not something baseball has really seen before.
Milwaukee, to its credit, has handled him with care and kept him fresh into the final 30 games of the regular season. Misiorowski added strength and mass to his legs in the offseason, and the work has shown up. The Brewers have only used him three times on four days’ rest, all of them before the All-Star break, and he has been asked to throw 100 pitches only three times, with none of those outings going beyond 107.
There’s been another important piece to his season, too: he’s learned how to hold something back. Misiorowski has become good at dialing his fastball up and down depending on the count, saving his hardest heat for when he needs it most. That kind of pacing is a big reason power arms survive, and it’s part of why his season has stayed on this level.
What Misiorowski is building is more than just a loud arsenal. He’s tracking toward one of the most dominant pitching seasons of the modern era, a run that belongs in the same conversation as Pedro Martinez’s iconic 2000 campaign, especially in today’s more hitter-friendly environment. He is on pace to become the first pitcher ever with a sub-2 ERA and at least 12 strikeouts per nine innings.
If that still doesn’t sound outrageous enough, the rest of the picture makes the case even louder.
Cade Cavalli has quietly put together a strong year for Washington, and while he may not be a name that jumps out to most fans, he’s been plenty familiar to orthopedists over the past few seasons. Now 28 and finally healthy, the Nationals right-hander has thrown 27 times and owns a 3.22 ERA with an 11-5 record.
Cavalli has the profile of a modern power starter with a deep mix. He works with three fastballs that sit in the 93-98 mph range, pairs them with two breaking balls that rank in the 97th percentile in run value, and uses a changeup to keep left-handers from sitting on the heater. He’s also rolling right now, coming off back-to-back starts in which he didn’t allow a run and struck out double digits in both.
“Cavalli, in my opinion, might've been the best pitcher I've seen all year,” Schumaker said. “As far as what this guy is right now, it is filth. His stuff is crazy good.”
Cavalli’s path here has been anything but smooth. The former first-round pick from Oklahoma chased velocity and induced vertical break, and the elbow eventually gave out while that approach was becoming the language of pitching development.
A natural supinator, he moved away from trying to force vertical shape and went back to his own hand position, creating cut-ride on his fastball and sharper spin on his breaking pitches. He also abandoned the hands-over-the-head full windup and switched to a modified stretch with his hands at the belt.
Injuries limited him to just 355 innings over his first six years in pro ball from 2020 through 2025. Now healthy, and with a better understanding of what fits his delivery, Cavalli is showing the kind of front-of-the-rotation stuff that has been in there all along.
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Mets Game Turned Into A Brewers Message To Cooper Pratt
The Brewers series against the Mets turned into a teaching moment for Cooper Pratt, and Pat Murphy made sure the rookie shortstop understood exactly why. Murphy pulled Pratt midgame after he failed to hustle out of the batters box and did not attempt a bunt he had been asked to lay down, two details that mattered in a game where Milwaukees manager wants the little things done the right way.
Pratt owned his mistakes afterward and said he needed to be better about effort and following team expectations, while Murphy framed the move as a lesson rather than a label. For a young player trying to settle in, the message was clear: the Brewers will live with rookie growing pains, but not with avoidable lapses in energy or execution. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Prospect Had A Wild Pro Debut Fans Will Love
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For Brewers fans, it is the latest reminder that Treys first step into pro ball came with some built-in baseball pedigree. His father, Dino Ebel, is the third base coach for the Dodgers, so this was already a family steeped in the game before the rain delay handed it an extra twist. What began as a paused game ended with the sort of debut story that is hard to script and even harder to forget. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Bullpen Reinforcements Are Coming With A Roster Squeeze Next
Abner Uribe and JoJo Romero took a step toward rejoining the Brewers on Sunday, beginning minor league rehab assignments with High-A Wisconsin. Romero opened the day with a scoreless inning, and Uribe followed with a clean frame of his own as both pitchers continued their push back toward Milwaukees bullpen.
For a Brewers relief corps that has had to manage its workload carefully, getting two late-inning arms back on the mound is a welcome development. Both are expected to be ready in late August or early September, which should give the club more options at the end of the season, but it will also force some roster decisions when they are cleared to come off the rehab track. [Read more 🡒]