How Jacob Misiorowski Got Five World Series Innings From 78 Pitches

Chandler Simpson kept his fourth-inning at-bat alive with two fouls against Jacob Misiorowski’s fastball. The Milwaukee right-hander then changed speed twice: an 86.7 mph curveball missed for a ball, and an 86.8 mph curveball drew the swinging third strike. Four fastballs and two curves had produced one of his three strikeouts.

Misiorowski’s World Series Game 1 start on October 23 was more efficient than his previous postseason appearance without producing more swing-and-miss. He gave Milwaukee five innings on 78 pitches, allowing four hits, one walk and one earned run in a 3-2 victory over Tampa Bay at American Family Field.

The comparison is with his October 11 NLCS opener against Los Angeles. That start required 94 pitches for 13 outs. Against the Rays, he recorded 15 outs with 16 fewer pitches. The workload fell from 7.2 physical pitches per out to 5.2, with the defensive plays behind him forming part of that difference.

More cutters, familiar fastball speed

The clearest pitch-selection change was the cutter. Misiorowski threw 17 of them against Tampa Bay, or 21.8% of his 78 pitches. Against the Dodgers he had thrown six in 94, a 6.4% share. His regular-season baseline was 369 cutters in 2,647 physical pitches, or 13.9%.

That increased use should not be mistaken for a surge in cutter misses. Tampa Bay missed once in nine swings against the pitch. Its average release speed was 95.5 mph, close to the 95.8 mph regular-season average. It gave the start a different mix, but the record does not establish a new pitch or an undisclosed change in his plan.

The four-seam fastball still accounted for most of the outing: 48 pitches, a 61.5% share. That compared with 66.0% in the NLCS opener and 63.4% during the regular season. His World Series four-seamers averaged 101.1 mph, compared with 100.7 mph against Los Angeles and 100.6 mph across the season baseline.

The 103.5 mph opening pitch to Yandy Díaz was the most conspicuous speed reading. It was a ball, and Díaz eventually flew out on the third pitch of that plate appearance. The rest of the start required more than the velocity record to explain it.

Two early innings kept the count down

Jonathan Aranda and Simpson singled in the first inning, putting two runners on base. Junior Caminero then lined into a double play, with David Hamilton catching the ball at third and throwing to Brice Turang at second. Misiorowski had allowed two hits but completed the inning after 13 pitches.

The second was shorter. Liam Hicks grounded out, Jonny DeLuca flew out and Víctor Mesa Jr. struck out, each in a three-pitch plate appearance. Misiorowski had used 22 pitches through two innings. Against the Dodgers, the first two innings had required 47.

The third inning included seven-pitch confrontations with Ben Williamson and Taylor Walls before a two-pitch lineout by Díaz. Those 16 pitches put Misiorowski at 38 through three innings. Extended counts were still present, but they had not created the same early workload as his 35-pitch second inning in the NLCS opener.

Contact explains more than strikeouts

Tampa Bay missed seven times in 41 swings, a 17.1% miss rate. The Dodgers had missed 10 times in 42 swings, or 23.8%. Misiorowski’s regular-season comparison was 506 misses in 1,357 swings, or 37.3%.

His longer World Series outing therefore did not come from making hitters miss more often. The Rays put 14 pitches into play. Their average measured exit velocity was 86.3 mph, compared with 95.5 mph on 11 balls in play against Los Angeles.

Five of Tampa Bay’s 14 balls in play reached at least 95 mph, the threshold used here for hard contact. That was 35.7%, compared with six of 11 against the Dodgers. The regular-season rate was 120 of 358 measured balls in play, or 33.5%. These are small single-game contact samples against different opponents, not evidence of a permanent change.

Misiorowski also received 15 called strikes. Together with seven misses, 20 fouls and 14 balls in play, those pitches account for his 56 physical strikes. The other 22 physical pitches were balls. Automatic count changes are kept separately from those physical-pitch totals.

The run and the fifth-inning finish

Aranda opened the fourth with a walk before Simpson’s six-pitch strikeout. Caminero doubled, and Hicks’s groundout brought Aranda home. DeLuca’s first-pitch flyout ended the inning with the Brewers still ahead 2-1. Misiorowski had needed 18 pitches for that frame and had thrown 56 overall.

The fifth cost another 22. Mesa singled, Williamson grounded out and Walls fouled out. Misiorowski then threw three pitches during Díaz’s unfinished plate appearance before catcher William Contreras threw out Mesa attempting to steal third. That defensive out ended the inning; Díaz did not count as an additional completed batter faced.

Misiorowski’s fastball still averaged 100.9 mph in the fifth, based on 14 four-seamers. The inning’s workload and the catcher’s final out belong beside that speed reading. Neither the velocity nor the final pitching line alone describes how Milwaukee obtained those outs.

Misiorowski left with 18 official batters faced, five completed innings and one run charged to him. Abner Uribe took over for the sixth with Milwaukee leading 2-1.