A Milwaukee Brewers rookie made baseball history Saturday night in Denver, delivering the hardest fastball ever recorded by a starting pitcher in the modern tracking era during his team’s commanding 7-1 win over the Colorado Rockies.
The record-breaking moment came when 24-year-old right-hander Jacob Misiorowski fired a 103.7 mph fastball low and away to Kyle Karros during the third inning. This surpassed any velocity recorded by a starter since pitch monitoring technology was implemented in 2008. The overall speed record remains with former reliever Aroldis Chapman, who reached 105.8 mph while playing for the Cincinnati Reds in 2010.
Misiorowski’s blazing performance included an incredible 52 pitches at 100 mph or higher, marking his second-best total after throwing 57 such pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 25, when he previously peaked at 103.5 mph. The young hurler also established a new benchmark with 45 pitches clocked at 101 mph or faster during the pitch-tracking period.
On the mound, Misiorowski delivered seven strong innings, allowing one unearned run on four hits while walking three and striking out eight batters. The performance boosted his record to 7-2 and dropped his ERA to 1.50, trailing only the Phillies’ Cristopher Sanchez at 1.46.
The All-Star rookie currently leads major league baseball in multiple categories, including strikeouts with 116, WHIP at 0.789, fewest hits allowed per nine innings at 4.7, and strikeouts per nine innings at 13.7.
“Thanks to God he’s on our side,” Brewers catcher William Contreras told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I think we know what kind of pitcher Miz is. I don’t think there’s anybody in the league that wants to face him.”
The evening included some concerning moments for Milwaukee. Misiorowski took a line drive off his calf from Troy Johnston’s comebacker in the second inning, which resulted in Colorado’s first hit. Medical staff examined the pitcher, but he remained in the contest after taking some practice throws.
Another scary incident occurred in the sixth inning when Misiorowski’s 98.2 mph cutter struck Tyler Freeman in the helmet. Freeman was replaced by pinch runner Sterlin Thompson. Despite these challenges and working through some difficult situations, Misiorowski guided Milwaukee to victory.
“That’s been No. 1 this year: The maturity has been tremendous,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy commented to the Journal Sentinel. “We got to take note of what this guy has done. Pitching isn’t this easy in the big leagues. To be as consistent as this guy has been over the last how many outings is remarkable. I don’t know how many guys are doing that.”
