Jacob Misiorowski quiets the noise with spotless no-hit debut

It was certainly a night to remember for Jacob Misiorowski and Milwaukee Brewers fans everywhere. With a scuffling Brewers team that has lost two straight series, a matchup against a hated division rival in the St. Louis Cardinals, ever-present questions of whether or not this was the right time to promote their pitching prospect phenom, and pre-game conversations about a resulting trade request, Misiorowski tuned everything out and just flat out pitched. Though his night may have ended sooner than he had hoped, the 23-year-old with the electric arm and the Brewers team that he represents could not have asked for anything more from the highly anticipated debut of The Miz.

Misiorowski wasted no time displaying his otherworldly velocity. The first batter he faced, Cardinals' left fielder Lars Nootbaar, saw four pitches above 100 MPH, with the fastest of the at-bat clocking in at 102.2 MPH, which ended up being Miz's max velocity for the outing. Despite his overpowering fastball, which Misiorowski pairs with three impressive secondary offerings to produce an absurd amount of strikeouts, the rookie had to wait until his second frame to collect his first big league punchout. However, given the opponent and the nature of the strikeout, it was well worth the wait.

To start the second inning, Miz wasted a high fastball on Cardinals' first baseman, and long-time rival of the Brewers, Wilson Contreras. He came back with two "sliders" in the zone to get ahead 1-2. All night, Misiorowski was breaking the Statcast readings on his pitch offerings, with his 95+ MPH slider being considered a cutter, and his 90+ MPH changeup reading as a sinker. It speaks to the uniqueness of Misiorowski's stuff; even the robots don't believe what he is throwing. After a fouled-off curveball and another wasted fastball above the zone, Miz dotted a slider just off the plate to get Contreras swinging, sending him back to the Cardinals' dugout and earning Misiorowski his first career big-league strikeout.

Jacob Misiorowski shows clear readiness for MLB with five no-hit innings in debut

Questions were present about whether this was the right time to bring up Misiorowski, but none of those questions were in regard to his preparedness for big league hitters. Now, after Miz's debut, any questions about timing seem irrelevant. Sure, the team might have been able to maximize Aaron Civale's trade value by letting him make a few more starts, but that difference no longer seems important considering the value that this team received by adding Misiorowski to their rotation.

Calls for Misiorowski to have been promoted sooner hold merit, but had he struggled in his first few outings in such a reality, concerns over whether or not the team called him up too early surely would have arisen. Instead, the Brewers were careful not to rush his development, but also not deny the ridiculous talent that they had waiting in Triple-A Nashville.

Though it may seem a little early to deem this entire situation a huge success, it should not be underscored what Miz did last night. In one of the most anticipated debuts by a Brewers pitcher in franchise history, he no-hit a strong Cardinals offense for five innings. He lived up to the moment, exceeded it, and reminded everyone just how talented and unique of a pitcher he truly is. Last night was hopefully the first of many, many installments of the Miz show, which should spoil Brewers fans for many years to come.