How does Jacob Misiorowski's debut compare to those of recent Brewers legends?

The day that the Milwaukee Brewers were long waiting for finally arrived. Last Thursday, top prospect Jacob Misiorowski made his MLB debut against NL Central rival, the St. Louis Cardinals. As Misiorowski has been a top prospect in the Brewers' farm system for several years, and his elite arsenal of pitches has taken social media by storm, it was one of the most anticipated pitching debuts in Brewers' history.

The 23-year-old did not disappoint. He kept the Cardinals off the scoreboard with five shutout innings, allowing zero hits to go along with five strikeouts and four walks. What more can the Brewers, their fans, and Misiorowski himself ask for from a debut? Not only did it give the Brewers a huge win over their division rivals, but it had fans dreaming about what watching Miz for the foreseeable future will be like.

Given the nature of Miz's debut, I thought it appropriate to compare his results to those of other highly anticipated debuts from Brewers starting pitchers' of seasons past. So how did Miz's debut compare to Ben Sheets, Yovani Gallardo, Corbin Burnes, and Freddy Peralta's MLB debuts? Well, let's find out, shall we?

Ben Sheets

If Misiorowski's debut wasn't the most anticipated by a Brewers pitcher since 2000, Ben Sheets' was. Climbing as high as the No. 5 prospect in all of baseball in 2001, according to Baseball America's prospect rankings, Sheets looked destined to be a star, and while he went on to earn an All-Star nod in his rookie season, his MLB debut was nothing to write home to Baton Rouge about.

That debut came on April 5, 2001, against the Houston Astros, the Brewers’ fourth game of the season. While Sheets did cover six innings in his MLB debut, the standard for starting pitchers back in the day, he surrendered five earned runs, walked five Astros, and struck out just five batters. While it might have been a shaky start, Sheets had his ERA down to 3.21 by the end of May. To this day, Sheets remains one of the best pitchers in Brewers history, reminding us all that a player’s MLB debut is just one game.

Yovani Gallarado

Yovani Gallardo made his MLB debut on June 18, 2007, against the San Francisco Giants, and it was not a bad one by any stretch of the imagination. He covered 6.1 innings, gave up four hits and three runs, while walking three and striking out four. Gallardo earned the win in the game, as the Crew hung on to win a close 5-4 game.

Gallardo, an All-Star and Silver Slugger in 2010, made some huge starts for the Brewers throughout his time with the team, including the first postseason game for Milwaukee in 26 years, when he started game one of the 2008 Divisional Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. A fan favorite and staple of the Brewers rotation for years, Gallardo's name won't soon be forgotten, but his debut was not nearly as awe-inspiring as Misiorowski's.

Freddy Peralta

The Brewers’ current ace, Freddy Peralta, made his debut on May 13, 2018, in Colorado against the Rockies, and what a debut it was. Peralta finished with 5.2 innings, giving up only one hit to go along with two walks and an astounding 13 strikeouts. He picked up the win and threw 98 pitches, of which 60 were strikes.

At the time, Peralta earned the nickname "Fastball Freddy" for both the frequency that he threw and the success he had with his fastball. Since then, Peralta has added and refined multiple secondary pitches, allowing him to continue to find success even as the league becomes more familiar with his fastball. Though Miz had the no-hit bid in his debut, Peralta's 13 strikeouts might give him the crown when it comes to the best Brewers debuts by a starting pitcher.

Corbin Burnes

Corbin Burnes' debut in the major leagues was actually like no other on this list. In this stage of his career, he is a star starting pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who is unfortunately set to miss the rest of the season recovering from Tommy John surgery, but in his MLB debut with the Brewers back on July 10, 2018, he pitched in relief. The Brewers were playing the Miami Marlins that night, and Burnes covered the last two innings, which he gave up nothing and had one strikeout.

Ironically, Burnes earned a save in his first-ever appearance in MLB. He went on to earn one more during the 2019 season, but those two remain the only saves in Burnes' career. It was more than a successful debut for Burnes, who went on to be an important part of the Crew's 2018 playoff run and eventually the team's ace, following a rocky 2019 season.

More than anything, it is just fun to be able mention Misiorowski's name in the same conversation as these Brewers legends, and after a spotless MLB debut, he is more than deserving of his spot on this list. That said, as some of the debuts on this list remind us, it is just one game, and Miz's entire career surely won't be defined by it. But for now, it appears the Brewers have found themselves another ace, and time will tell if that is truly the case.