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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Perales arrives with plenty of intrigue because the Nationals have kept him on the 40-man roster and have been patient through his return from injury. The right-hander missed most of the 2025 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and his profile still comes with some command questions, but this is the sort of arm Washington has been eager to get a real look at as it sorts through its pitching depth. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Squander Chances As Blake Butera Faces Lineup Questions
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Blake Buteras decisions under pressure became part of the story, especially on the bench side. A pinch-hit choice for Jose Tena helped leave Jacob Youngs bat and speed sitting in a crucial late spot, even though Young had been Washingtons hottest hitter in the second half, and a caught-stealing attempt also clipped one of the Nationals better opening to keep the game moving in their favor. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Face A September Roster Decision Two Prospects Just Complicated
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Kings recent production has put him squarely on the radar as a potential late-season call-up, and Perales has given the Nationals another young arm to weigh as they map out the final month. The club has not announced any roster moves involving either player yet, which leaves the next step hanging over an organization that could use the extra roster flexibility to reward performance, add depth, or simply keep its options open. [Read more 🡒]