On the one-year anniversary of his big-league debut, Jacob Misiorowski delivered one of the best starts in modern baseball history. That might sound like hyperbole, but it's hard to dominate hitters more wholly than Misiorowski dismantled Philadelphia Phillies hitters on Friday night at American Family Field: a 95-pitch, one-hit complete-game shutout with 15 strikeouts.
According to Stathead, it was the most strikeouts in a Maddux (a complete-game shutout in under 100 pitches, named for inner-circle Hall of Famer Greg Maddux) since consistent pitch-count tracking began in 1988.
“For me, personally, that was as good as it gets,†Pat Murphy said postgame.
“That's probably the first one ever,†Misiorowski said, when asked if he had ever pitched that well at any level in his life.
Just listing the box score line doesn't fully do the start justice. Misiorowski threw hard. He missed bats. He induced weak contact. He controlled the count. He showed five different pitches. There's a lot to unpack regarding just how complete his dominance was, so let's walk through each notable number one by one.
104.5 mph
This is where Misiorowski first turned heads, and it happened right out of the gates, when he struck out Kyle Schwarber to lead off the game. The 2-2 fastball that Schwarber foul-tipped for strike three was 104.5 mph, the fastest pitch thrown by a starting pitcher in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008). And Misiorowski threw it when he felt his worst all night.
“To be honest, the first few innings, I feel like I didn't have it all that well,†he said. “I was just hoping they would swing, and they were hacking away, so that helped a lot.â€
Misiorowski has set that record multiple times, as he now owns the 17 fastest measured pitches thrown by a starter. He actually set the new high twice in the Schwarber at-bat, the first coming when he unleashed a 104-mph fastball with his third pitch. He still thinks there's more in the tank, too.
“It's awesome,†Misiorowski said of setting another velocity record. “I mean, honestly, that's really cool, but I think there's always another step to go with it, so keep pushing it.â€
15 strikeouts
It was a career-high for Misiorowski, who has already pitched eight 10-plus strikeout games in 29 career regular-season appearances. He became the third pitcher in franchise history to record at least 15 strikeouts in a game, and the first since Corbin Burnes on August 11, 2021. Misiorowski's outing was also baseball's first 15-strikeout start in nearly a year, since Atlanta's Grant Holmes did it on June 15, 2025.
Eight of those strikeouts came against the first nine batters he faced, and 12 were on his signature fastball. Misiorowski's heater has done the heavy lifting in most of his starts this year, and Friday night was no different.
24 fastball whiffs
That's the second-most swings and misses against a four-seam fastball in any outing in the pitch-tracking era. Only James Paxton managed more when he induced 25 four-seam whiffs on May 2, 2018. (Paxton struck out 16 that day in just seven innings of work, but needed 105 pitches to get those 21 outs.) Misiorowski threw his fastball 72.6% of the time, the second time this season he's thrown it at more than a 70% rate in a start. For most of the night, he peppered one after another near the top of the zone, where it's nearly impossible to get on top of with the bat.
3 hard-hit balls
When the Phillies did make contact, it wasn't solid contact. Of their 12 batted balls against Misiorowski, only three were hit with an exit velocity above 95 mph. Two of those were ground balls. The other was Schwarber's line-drive single on a slider in the fourth inning, the lone Philadelphia baserunner of the night.
“I thought I located it well, maybe slightly off,†Misiorowski said. “I don't remember exactly where it was at, but I'm happy with it. Just trying to jump out ahead of him. He's probably thinking heater, and he poked it through.â€
95 pitches, 74 strikes
Getting as much swing-and-miss as Misiorowski did is often a double-edged sword. It can put the pitcher in control of an outing, but it can also cut that outing short by inflating pitch counts. Balls in play make for quicker outs than strikeouts. That didn't matter for Misiorowski, though, because he was historically efficient. He issued zero walks and never reached a three-ball count. Only five batters reached two balls.
Misiorowski's command has made massive strides this year. A year ago at this time, he was debuting in the big leagues after walking 12.2% of batters in Triple-A Nashville. His walk rate in 2026 is now 6.7%, well below the league average of 9.2%. That's the product of focused, diligent work with the Brewers' big-league trainers and pitching coaches. After adding muscle and ironing out his mechanics, Misiorowski's lower half is stronger and more controlled than ever.
“It's a lot of work from people behind me and in the training room and weight room and all that,†he said.
“The kid is working for it,†Murphy said. “He'll be here tomorrow doing his work, and that's what it's about. Today is over. It's a great accomplishment, enjoy it, but tomorrow's a day of work. Get back to it tomorrow. He's that type of kid.â€
9 innings
Given how he felt earlier in the outing, the thought of going the distance didn't cross Misiorowski's mind for most of the night.
“Honestly, I thought the seventh was going to be it,†he said. “When we scored all those runs, I thought they were going to turn to me and be like, ‘Well, you're done.'â€
Misiorowski went back out for the eighth, though. After he completed that frame with just 86 pitches, there wasn't much discussion.
“At the end of the eighth, I'm like, ‘You're good, right?'†Murphy said. “He looked at me like, ‘No way. I'm going back out.' I was joking, of course. William [Contreras] looked at me like, ‘Really?'â€
American Family Field came to its feet when Misiorowski returned for the ninth inning. When he reached the mound, he paused for a few seconds to take it all in.
“That was cool,†he said. “It's awesome to have the support from the city and everyone like that.â€
Misiorowski's velocity dipped below triple digits a few times in the eighth inning, but the adrenaline boost of the moment helped him reach back for some of his best velocity to close things out. His average fastball velocity in the ninth was 102.6 mph, his highest since the first inning.
His last fastball of the night was 103.1 mph. It struck out Justin Crawford swinging, the final bow on the most dominant Maddux on record.
“I can't remember one better,†Murphy said. In Milwaukee, at least, no one can.
