For the Milwaukee Brewers, improvement is going to have to come from within in 2025. The offseason is essentially over and with the losses of Willy Adames and Devin Williams among others, the Brewers have their hands full to even match their success from 2024, let alone exceed it given the lack of reinforcements from outside the organization.
Healthy seasons from Christian Yelich and Brandon Woodruff would be a great start and one wonders what Jackson Chourio could have in store for fans in 2025 after a stellar 2024 debut. However, more players are going to have to step up this season for Milwaukee to continue their division dominance and one top candidate is pitching prospect Jacob Misiorowski.
Misiorowski may have the best raw stuff of any pitcher in the minor leagues right now thanks to his high octane fastball and power slider. However, some familiar demons plagued him in his first appearance in spring training that could make his bid to make the Opening Day rotation a bit tougher.
“I’m happy that I have this God-given talent."
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) February 26, 2025
Returning to a starting role this spring, @Brewers top-ranked pitching prospect Jacob Misiorowski topped 99 mph on the radar gun: https://t.co/37muiLGrnE pic.twitter.com/MjK8qD8O7U
Jacob Misiorowski's command issues continued to haunt him during spring debut
Now, this was just one short appearance early in spring and drawing too many conclusions is dangerous as a result. There was a good bit to like from Misiorowski's spring debut as his fastball already touched 99 mph and his stuff certainly looked live.
Unfortunately, Misiorowski's command left a lot to be desired as he gave up two runs and three walks in just an inning of work. When viewed as just his first spring training appearance, that is no big deal as a lot of guys are rusty. However, Misiorowski's issues with finding the strike zone go back further than that as he walked 60 batters in 97.1 innings of work in the minors in 2024 and a similar ratio the year before that.
In terms of stuff, it is obvious why the Brewers want to at least try to make starting work for Misiorowski and if he can rein things in, he is going to be a strong candidate for the Brewers rotation. However, if his command issues persist this spring, there is still a chance he can be in the big leagues early in the year if Milwaukee decides to pivot and put him in the bullpen where he could be a late-inning All-Star.