Jacob Misiorowski Becomes First Starter To Throw 103 MPH In Statcast Era
Image credit: Jacob Misiorowski (Photo by Rob Leiter/Getty Images)
In the sixth inning of yet another excellent start for Triple-A Nashville, Brewers righthander Jacob Misiorowski reached back for 103 mph to strike out Luken Baker.
You don’t need much explanation to understand that a 103 mph pitch from a starting pitcher is exceptional velocity.
But this may explain it a bit further: it’s the hardest pitch ever recorded in the Statcast era by a true starting pitcher. That includes every pitch tracked in the majors between Pitch FX and Statcast since 2008, as well as select minor league games since 2021. In all that time, no starting pitcher–not an opener or reliever making a spot start–has touched 103 mph. (See the note at the bottom of this story for more on that “true” starter designation.)
Misiorowski touched 102.3 in his start last week, so this didn’t come out of the blue. But it is notable how he ramped his velocity up and down as needed on Thursday. Misiorowski only threw nine triple-digit pitches in the game. All nine came against the two toughest hitters in the Redbirds’ lineup.
Thomas Saggese homered against Misiorowski in the first inning. When he faced Misiorowski in the third, he saw a 101.6 first-pitch fastball for a called strike. Misiorowski then missed with a 101.4 mph fastball. After throwing a pair of curveballs for a ball and a 96.1 mph slider (not a typo) for a swinging strike, he then rung up Saggese on a 101.4 mph fastball for a called strike three.
Those were the only 100+ mph pitches Misiorowski threw in the first five innings of the game. He generally sat in the upper 90s with his fastball, and seemed in complete control.
But in the sixth inning, Bryan Torres and Saggese both singled. With two outs, and runners on second and third in a 1-1 game, Misiorowski reached back once again for his best stuff. This was the at-bat of the game, as Baker is one of the best sluggers in recent Triple-A history. He has 86 home runs for Memphis and 126 MiLB home runs is among active MiLB leaders.
Misiorowski went down and in with 100.6 mph for ball one. He then elevated 101.2 mph for a swinging strike at the top of the zone. The righthander’s third pitch was 101.8 mph on the outer edge. The umpire called a strike, but Baker challenged and it was overturned by ABS. Ball two.
Misiorowski went right back to the same spot on the gloveside edge of the zone again with 101.2 mph. Baker again took and this was ball three.
There was no subtlety to this battle. Having thrown four straight 100+ mph fastballs, Misiorowski went back to the fastball again (101.4 mph), this time on the inner third of the plate. Baker hit it hard (105.1 mph) but foul by 100 feet into the left field stands. And now the count was full.
And here’s where we got the perfect pitch to end a fascinating at-bat that seemed straight out of a 1890s poem. Misiorowski reached back for 103.0 mph at the top of the zone. Mighty Casey (or Baker in this case) took a massive swing, but struck out. Misiorowski leapt off the mound with a yell and a fist pump.
Misiorowski’s hardest pitch of his career so far came on his 78th pitch of the outing. That makes it even more interesting and notable.
The only MLB pitchers to top 101 mph more than 75 pitches into a start in the Statcast era are, with very few exceptions, a gathering of aces: Hunter Greene, Paul Skenes, Shohei Ohtani, Gerrit Cole, Jacob deGrom, Yordano Ventura, Sandy Alcantara, Cole Ragans, Nate Eovaldi, Justin Verlander and Carlos Martinez.
Eovaldi and Verlander are the only MLB starters in the Statcast era to top 102 mph more than 75 pitches into his start. Eovaldi pumped a 102.4 mph fastball in an August 2015 start. Verlander reached back for 102.4 to Adrian Beltre in a 2011 postseason start.
Misiorowski ended up working another scoreless inning to wrap up his outing. He allowed one run in seven innings on four hits while striking out five. He threw 86 pitches.
In many ways, it wasn’t Misiorowski’s most dominating start. He had struck out 11 in his previous outing and he’d shut out his opponent in three of his previous four starts.
But in the maturation of a pitcher, it was another key step. The righthander didn’t just try to rear back and blow away the Memphis lineup. He paced himself, getting outs with high-90s fastballs and hard low-90s sliders for most of the game.
But when he needed a bit more, he had the hardest fastball we’ve seen from a starter sitting in his back pocket, ready to be broken out at just the right moment.
Note: There have been two other 103 mph “starting” pitchers. In both of those cases, it was done by relievers serving as openers. Mets minor leaguer Raimon Gomez touched 103+ eight times in the first inning of a three-inning outing in which he threw 38 pitches. He moved back to his normal bullpen role for his next outing and every outing since then.
Jordan Hicks served as an opener in the Cardinals’ July 12, 2022 game. He threw a a 103.1 mph on his 11th pitch and a 103.2 mph pitch on his 19th pitch of a 1.2-inning outing. While Hicks has started at other parts of his career, this was a one-off start during a three-month stretch where he never threw more than two innings and never made another start.
