Major League hitters like to say they feast on the fastball. The Milwaukee Brewers’ flame-throwing pitching staff was too big a meal for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ bats.
Their pitching staff is taking the pitch to another level as one of the best teams in baseball just found out.
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How fast were those guys throwing?
In a 3-1 win over the Dodgers on Tuesday, July 8, they broke a Major League record when four pitchers put up an average velocity of 99.32 miles per hour. The highest average for a team in a single game since 2008, the start of the pitch tracking era.
The quartet of Jacob Misiorowski, Jared Koenig, Abner Uribe and Trevor Megill were full-speed ahead. The 23-year-old Misiorowski, making just his fifth big league start, surrendered a lead-off homer to none other than Shohei Ohtani but shut down one of the best lineups in baseball after that. He put up triple-digit speeds on half of his 42 fastballs and averaged 99.7 mph on those pitches. He struck out 12 over six innings, prompting manager Pat Murphy to gush about his progress.
“That’s the maturity I’m talking about,” Murphy said. “In the back of my mind, I’m thinking I want to win this game, but what an experience for Miz. To go through this and face (Freddie) Freeman and (Andy) Pages in a big, big situation, I mean, that’s what it’s about.”
How did the Brewers bullpen finish it?
The bullpen did the rest, Koenig, Uribe and Megill allowed no hits and no runs in the final three innings. Megill slammed the door with a perfect ninth, and his top pitch was clocked at 101.3 mph.
In the other dugout, future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw watched. His matchup with Misiorowski was much hyped. Kershaw apparently hadn’t heard of “The Miz,” which led to this reaction from Misiorowski.
“Three thousand K’s. It’s awesome to see a guy like that and match up against him,” Misiorowski said. “But you know, I saw something online where he didn’t know who I was, so I hope that he knows me now.”
What was Clayton Kershaw’s reaction?
Kershaw, who recently surpassed 3,000 strikeouts in his career, responded.
“I know him now, huh? That was super impressive,” Kershaw said. “That was unbelievable. That was really special, I mean everything, all four pitches, I’m not sure how you hit that.”
Murphy stressed that Misiorowski is learning to pitch on the job and getting better nearly every outing. He’s posted a 4-1 record so far. Since his debut on June 12, the Brewers have surged in the standings with a 17-7 record.
The Dodgers may get another shot at those high-velocity heaters right out of the All-Star break. The Miz should pitch one of the three games in Los Angeles when the Major League schedule resumes.
