Comparing the first four starts of Clayton Kershaw and Jacob Misiorowski's careers

Just four starts into his MLB career, Milwaukee Brewers rookie phenom Jacob Misiorowski has already been a part of one high-profile pitching duel — a marquee matinee against Paul Skenes — and is set to participate in another one tonight. At 6:40 p.m. CT on national television (TBS), Miz will face off with future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, who collected his 3,000th career strikeout in his most recent start.

14 years separate Misiorowski and Kershaw’s ages, which means that when the Dodgers legend was in Miz's shoes, settling into his rookie season, Miz was busy finishing up kindergarten. Ironically enough, despite Miz making his MLB debut more than 17 years after Kershaw made his, the two share some eerie similarities when it comes to their first few starts in MLB.

1. Both Kershaw and Misiorowski made their MLB debuts against the St. Louis Cardinals

Back on May 25, 2008, the Dodgers called up a 20-year-old Kershaw to make his MLB debut against the 30-22 St. Louis Cardinals, who were tied for first place in the NL Central with the Chicago Cubs at the time. Kershaw, who was the 7th overall pick two years prior, tossed six innings and allowed two earned runs, while striking out seven and walking just one in the process. Future Brewer Takashi Saito earned the win in the game, after the Dodgers walked off the Red Birds in 10 innings.

17 years and 18 days later, Misiorowski made his MLB debut — also against the St. Louis Cardinals. Though Kershaw's debut was impressive, Miz's was even more so; he went five innings and didn't surrender a hit. Unlike Kershaw, Misiorowski earned the win in his debut, but Kershaw outdid him in terms of strikeouts and walks, as Miz collected five and four, respectively.

2. Miz and Kershaw each had their first poor start against the New York Mets

The second outing of Kershaw's career was a road start against the New York Mets, which came just months before Shea Stadium closed. Kershaw pitched just 3.2 innings and surrendered four earned runs. A two-run homer from Mets second baseman Luis Castillo in the first inning got things off on the wrong foot, and Kershaw couldn't recover from there. He collected just two strikeouts and walked four before being pulled in the fourth inning.

Oddly enough, Misiorowski's first bad start came just last week — against the New York Mets, in New York. Just like Kershaw, Miz didn't make it out of the fourth inning, pitching just 3.2 innings and allowing five earned runs before exiting the game. In Miz's case, it was a grand slam from Brandon Nimmo and a solo shot from Francisco Lindor that derailed his start, but just like Kershaw, he collected just two strikeouts in the first blip on his MLB resume.

3. Both Kershaw and Misiorowski faced an all-time great in their first five starts

Kershaw's fourth start came in San Diego against the Padres, and opposing him on the mound was 8x All-Star and 4x Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux. The Professor was in the final season of his MLB career and ironically would go on to join Kershaw and the Dodgers before retiring at the end of the year. Despite Maddux being 42 years old at the time, he out-dueled Kershaw, pitching six innings of one-run baseball, while Kershaw covered just 5.1 innings and surrendered two earned runs. Despite Maddux's impressive performance, the Dodgers went on to win the game by a score of 7-2, with Kershaw's first marquee match-up in the books.

In a full-circle moment, Misiorowski now faces Kershaw at the tail-end of his career. Rumors of Kershaw's retirement after the 2025 season surfaced this past offseason, but the 37-year-old southpaw wasn't ready to make an official decision at the time. Regardless, Kershaw is nearing the end of his career, and tonight's match-up with Miz offers an eerie resemblance to his start against Maddux way back in 2008.

Tonight's game is set to start at 6:40 p.m. CT and will be broadcast both nationally on TBS and locally on Fan Duel Sports Network Wisconsin. It will be a packed house at American Family Field, as the Crew sets out to win their third-straight game, and the Dodgers look to avoid losing their fifth straight.