Jacob Misiorowski has forced his way into a conversation that usually doesn’t belong to pitchers.
The Milwaukee Brewers right-hander has been one of the driving forces behind the team’s success this season, helping Milwaukee post the best record in the National League. That kind of run naturally puts him near the front of the NL Cy Young race. But with the regular season winding down, there’s now another award hanging out there: NL MVP.
Shohei Ohtani has won the NL MVP in each of the last two seasons, but this year’s race looks different. Pete Crow-Armstrong has moved to the front after a huge season, and MLB’s latest MVP poll has him first with Ohtani second. Misiorowski is right in the mix too, tied for third with Elly De La Cruz.
For a pitcher, even cracking the top tier of MVP voting would be notable. Clayton Kershaw was the last pitcher to win the award, doing it in 2014. If Misiorowski finishes in the top three, he’d become the first pitcher since Kershaw to land among the NL MVP finalists.
And the numbers give him a real case. The 24-year-old leads the league in ERA at 1.86, WHIP at 0.803, FIP at 2.16 and strikeouts with 247. He’s also gone 15-5, a record that’s helped Milwaukee keep turning his starts into wins.
That win-loss mark doesn’t carry the same weight it once did, but Misiorowski’s overall impact is impossible to ignore. He’s been putting up the kind of season that, in another year, might have been enough to push a pitcher all the way into MVP territory. This time, he’s running into a field that includes a star center fielder and a two-way force doing damage everywhere.
In Other News...
Brewers Are Already Hinting At A Playoff Lineup Shift
Joey Ortiz sat out the Brewers game against the Phillies because of a minor abdominal strain, but his absence carried more of a postseason feel than a long-term concern. Pat Murphy said Ortiz would likely be in the lineup in a playoff scenario, which says plenty about how far the infielder has come this season. His offense has taken a step forward, and he has grown into one of Milwaukees more important everyday pieces as the club eyes October.
Murphy also hinted that Ortiz may not be the only player whose role could change when the games start to matter most. Sal Frelick could get a look in the lineup, while David Hamilton and Luis Lara may see more at-bats against right-handed pitching. For a Brewers team trying to line up the best mix for the postseason, these are the kinds of decisions that can quietly shape the entire series plan. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Final Stretch Pitching Plan Is Starting To Take Shape
The Brewers kept tinkering with the back end of their pitching staff ahead of a game against the Phillies, selecting the contract of right-hander Lyon Richardson and sending left-hander Colton Gordon to Double-A. It was the kind of move that has become familiar this time of year for Milwaukee, which is trying to balance short-term coverage with a bigger October plan.
Richardson has already spent time on both the Reds' roster and the Brewers' roster this season, and his big league results have been uneven even as he has been more effective in the minors. For a team managing innings and looking for the right mix as the playoffs approach, those kinds of roster shuffles are starting to reveal how Milwaukee wants its staff lined up for the final stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Suddenly Face A Bigger Catcher Question Than Fans Expected
Jeferson Quero was supposed to be one of the Brewers cleaner long-term answers behind the plate, the kind of catching prospect whose arrival would help stabilize a position that always seems to demand depth. Instead, his recent path has been defined by stop-and-start development, from injuries to uneven production, including a torn labrum in 2024 and a dip in both OPS and contact rates at Triple-A.
The encouraging signs are still there in his quality of contact, and Milwaukee has not lost sight of the upside that helped earn him a brief major league debut. But the bigger concern now is whether Quero will get enough steady time behind the plate to settle into the role the Brewers once seemed to have mapped out for him, especially with the teams catching picture shifting around him. [Read more 🡒]