How Jacob Misiorowski Dominated Yankees—and Entered History Books in Blazing Performance

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Lighting up the Baseball Savant page like a Christmas tree in a scintillating performance, Brewers flame-throwing starter Jacob Misiorowski dismantled the American League's best lineup, blanking the Yankees for six innings while striking out 11 batters in Milwaukee's 6-0 win at American Family Field on Friday night.
Here's how he did it.
Misiorowski's near-perfect first inning
There's the famous phrase, “it's not how you start, it's how you finish.” But for pitchers, especially those facing a hot lineup like the Yankees', getting off to a fast start is paramount.
Misiorowski did that in more ways than one.
Like a champion prizefighter, Misiorowski came out throwing haymakers, as he set down the Yankees 1-2-3 on 10 pitches, all of them four-seamers. Seven of those pitches topped out at 103 mph or more; the other three were no slower than 102.4 mph.
Jacob Misiorowski with perhaps the most ABSURD first inning ever. 😳
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 8, 2026
10 Pitches at: 102, 103, 103, 103, 103, 103, 103, 103, 103 and 104 mph. pic.twitter.com/1Oh6TYehJy
The flurry of blazing right hooks and uppercuts sent the Yankees to the proverbial canvas as both Trent Grisham and Ben Rice struck out on three pitches each. That brought up reigning back-to-back AL MVP Aaron Judge, who swung through 103 and then fouled off 103 to dig himself an early hole against the Brewers' fireballer. Judge then took another heater just off the black, a pitch that was so close it may have warranted an ABS challenge given that an immaculate inning was at stake. But, a pitch later, Judge was headed back to the dugout after lining out to right fielder Sal Frelick—ending an incredible inning in which Misiorowski set the tone for the rest of his start.
Record-setting—and pinpoint—fastballs
Misiorowski was far from finished when it came to bringing the heat, as he delivered three more four-seamers clocked at 103 mph or more, bringing the grand total for his start to a whopping 10 fastballs of that speed or greater.
Misiorowski's 10 heaters were the 10 fastest pitches of the Statcast era, which dates back to 2008. He threw 57 four-seamers and his fastball averaged 101.1 mph, 1.6 mph more than his season average.
If that was't impressive enough, the fact that Misiorowski wasn't just throwing gas for the sake of throwing gas added to the impressiveness of his outing. Some pitchers have a tendency to overthrow their fastball when they're pumped up on adrenaline, as Misiorowski clearly was in his first-ever outing against the Yankees.
But that was not the case with the Brewers youngster, who routinely painted the corners and showcased his pinpoint control with his blazing fastball, which he generated 13 called strikes on.
Unbelievable stamina
After pumping out seven 103 mph-plus heaters in the first inning, there's no way Misiorowski continued to give the radar gun a workout in the later innings, right? Right?!
Well, not exactly.
Misiorowski was still pumping 102 for a swinging strike past Judge in the fourth inning. He was still hitting 102 an inning later than that. And by the sixth inning, his final frame of the night, Misiorowski blew a 102.4 mph fastball by Judge for the second out of the inning, before starting out Cody Bellinger with a 102.7 mph heater.
That fastball to Bellinger became the fastest pitch from a starting pitcher in the fifth inning or later since Tarik Skubal's fifth inning heater in a May 2025 start against the Guardians.
Misiorowski told reporters it was a first for him to pitch with such continuous velocity in the majors.
“Not at this level, but, yeah, I’ve had games where you get that sudden burst of adrenaline in the fifth or sixth and you find it,” Misiorowski said. “This was a first for the big leagues.”
Hey, don't forget about us
Misiorowski's fastball created all the headlines, and rightfully so. But the overpowering heater overshadowed the fact that Misiorowski may have had his best curveball of the season, as well as a still highly-capable slider.
Misiorowski's slider has been one of baseball's best this season, and while it didn't perhaps rise to that level on Friday night, it was still a highly-capable offering. He threw 24 sliders, six of them for called strikes and two for swinging strikes.
But the real difference-maker was Misiorowski's curveball. The pitch featured two more inches of drop and horizontal break than his season average, and accounted for three of his 16 swinging strikes. Two of Misiorowski's 11 strikeouts came on the curveball.
The three offerings came together to create a beautiful attack. Just look at this pitch sequencing from Misiorowski against Bellinger, a former National League MVP and one of the hottest hitters in MLB currently.
Jacob Misiorowski, Unfair Sequence for his 11th K. 😲
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 9, 2026
103mph FB, 96mph Slider, 103mph FB and 89mph Curveball.
Clearly not human. Add him to the UFO files. pic.twitter.com/JPK5qoFXPh
In some ways, Misiorowoski, 24, is still figuring out, which is a scary thought for hitters when he's fully figured it out. On Friday night, he began to resemble a pitcher who does have it all figured out against one of the best lineups in baseball, a feat not lost on Brewers manager Pat Murphy.
“You come up and you don’t realize what it [takes] to get six innings against a lineup like that,” Murphy said. “You don’t realize the condition it takes, the mental up and down. Just the exhaustion, the adrenaline, everything. It’s like a fighter learning to fight multiple rounds.”
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Tim Capurso is a staff writer for Sports Illustrated, primarily covering MLB, college football and college basketball. Before joining SI in November 2023, Capurso worked at RotoBaller and ClutchPoints and is a graduate of Assumption University. When he's not working, he can be found at the gym, reading a book or enjoying a good hike. A resident of New York, Capurso openly wonders if the Giants will ever be a winning football team again.