Brewers Carefully Managing Misiorowski’s Workload Following All-Star Break

Jacob Misiorowski made his first appearance since the All-Star break Monday night, but the Milwaukee Brewers kept the star pitcher on a short leash. Manager Pat Murphy limited Misiorowski to just four innings in an 8-3 victory over the New York Mets, part of a deliberate strategy to gradually build up the right-hander following his extended rest.

Misiorowski had not taken the mound since July 7, when he pitched seven innings in a win at St. Louis. The Brewers removed him from a scheduled start in Pittsburgh five days later due to arm fatigue and kept him out of the All-Star Game despite selecting him to the roster for a second consecutive year. “I think we take that as kind of a reset,” Murphy said before Monday’s game. “Now I think we have to build him back up and make sure that we are mindful of it.”

Despite the abbreviated outing, Misiorowski struck out six batters while allowing one unearned run on four hits and a walk. He displayed his trademark velocity, with 26 of his 65 pitches reaching at least 100 mph and a four-seam fastball to Juan Soto hitting 104 mph in the first inning. However, Murphy noted after the game that command issues stemming from the layoff warranted the early exit rather than purely precautionary measures.

“We would have probably let him go further if his delivery and his legs felt great,” Murphy explained. “I think he was a little bit out of it. The long layoff kind of affected his delivery and everything else. The velo dropped. He couldn’t find the rhythm on his heater and went to off-speed stuff.”

Misiorowski, 24, acknowledged the rust from time away but expressed confidence in his preparation and readiness to increase his workload. “I felt like I wasn’t in my legs as well as I should have been, but I felt halfway decent. Good enough,” he said. He spent the previous offseason training specifically to handle the increased innings expected during his first full major league season.

The Brewers have legitimate reasons for caution with their ace. Misiorowski has already pitched 115 innings this season while accumulating 141 1/3 innings total last year across the majors, minors, and 12 postseason innings during Milwaukee’s National League Championship Series run. The 1.57 ERA and 173 strikeouts lead all of Major League Baseball.

Milwaukee’s 63-37 record sits atop the majors, six games ahead of the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. Misiorowski’s health and effectiveness will likely prove critical to any postseason success, making the measured approach to his return a calculated investment in the franchise’s October prospects.