u/ThatMasterpiece2174

Jacob Misiorowski is the hardest-throwing starting pitcher in the hardest-throwing season on record, which means we can start right off here with the big, flashing premise: Misiorowski is (probably) the hardest-throwing starting pitcher of all time, and you get to see him, right now.

It’s a lofty title to put on a 24-year-old, to say likely the hardest-throwing starter ever. And yet: It’s easier to prove than to disprove. More than 3,600 pitchers have started at least 20 games in their careers, dating back to the beginning of time. Point to one. Misiorowski throws harder than him. Yes, harder than him, or him, or even *him*.

It’s not just that he throws hard, though of course he does. It’s how much harder he throws than every other starting pitcher in a baseball world already obsessed with velocity. So far this year, Misiorowski’s average fastball is 99.6 mph, and you already know that's going to top the leaderboard. But "being first" isn't really even the big selling point here; it’s that he’s clear of second-place Bubba Chandler and his relatively tortoise-speed 98.5 mph by more than a full mph, which is a wide margin.

100+ mph pitches by starters, 2026 (entering Monday)

• 233 Misiorowski
• 149 every other starting pitcher in MLB combined

He’s got the eight hardest pitches ever tracked (dating back to the advent of the tracking era in 2008) by a starter. He’s got 19 of the top 23. He is, quite likely, going to break the record for most triple-digit pitches by a starter in a season by June. (The Reds' Hunter Greene set that, with 337 in 2022, putting Misiorowski almost 70% of the way there already.)

Put another way, 39% of Misiorowski's fastballs in his brief career have been triple digits. The next highest career rate since 2008 from a regular starter – setting aside openers – is Greene, at 17%. Chandler is close behind at 14%, which is still barely more than a third of Misiorowski. No one else is even over 10%, and that’s not just “this year.” We’re talking about anyone on record.

Yelich reported improvement each of the past two days, and manager Pat Murphy said he was planning to take some swings before the Brewers-Twins series opener at Target Field.

“It’s day to day, so we’ll see what happens,” Yelich said.

Yelich’s IL stint this season had nothing to do with the back. He went down April 12 with a left groin strain and was able to get back into action without a Minor League rehab assignment. Yelich went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts in his return to the Brewers on Tuesday night, and explained that if he seemed salty during an uncharacteristically terse interview at his locker that afternoon after the Brewers made the roster move to activate him from the IL, it was because he already knew his back was acting up.

“Good timing for that,” Yelich said. “That’s why I was in such a great mood that day. It’s just frustrating, man.”

A return to the injured list remains a possibility if he doesn’t improve soon. Should that scenario transpire, the Brewers could backdate an IL stint by up to three days.