'He thinks he's the best': Brewers phenom Jacob Misiorowski showed confidence with Timber Rattlers

When Milwaukee Brewers phenom Jacob Misiorowski pitched for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in 2023, there were not a lot of opportunities to see him.

He began the season in low-Class A Carolina, where he started nine games, pitched 26 innings, gave up 10 hits, had a 3.04 ERA and struck out 46 of the 101 batters he faced.

Misiorowski was then promoted to high-A Wisconsin, where he pitched in six games — all starts — allowed 15 hits in 23⅔ innings, had an ERA of 2.66 and struck out 28 of the 106 batters he faced.

Jacob Misiorowski pitched in just six games for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers during the 2023 season before being promoted to Double-A Biloxi.

Current Timber Rattlers catcher Blayberg Diaz had the opportunity to catch Misiorowski at Carolina in the Carolina League.

“I caught his first pro inning pitching,” Diaz said about Misiorowski’s debut against the Salem Red Sox on April 13, 2023. “It was electric. It was slider 93 miles per hour, fastballs of 100, 101. It was very fun to catch him.”

Misiorowski has lit up radar guns with his triple-digit fastballs. As if those aren’t hard enough to make contact with, they make his off-speed pitches equally difficult to connect with.

But, according to Diaz, it’s more than just the pitches Misiorowski throws.

“I think it’s the confidence that he has in his pitches,” Diaz said. “When he’s on the mound, he thinks he’s the best. I was just trying to help him in whatever the situation was in the game. He's really good.

“And with him in the big leagues, I’m so happy to see how he’s grown mentally and to be able to say I knew him when he was the guy that he is today.”

At 6-foot-7 and 197 pounds, the 23-year-old Misiorowski could be described as gangly, and like Hall of Fame pitcher Randy Johnson early in his career could sometimes get out of sync with his motion.

Was that a problem with Misiorowski?

“At the beginning, we’re very young at that point,” Diaz said. “As the season, our careers are going, we’ve got to do adjustments. He did because of the stuff he’s got.”

Timber Rattlers manager Victor Estevez got a close-up look at Misiorowski when he was the manager in Carolina in 2023.

“Watching him pitch was very good for us,” Estevez said on the June 13 Timber Rattlers Report podcast. “I know Michael (pitching coach Michael O’Neal) and I were excited about it.

“A couple of our pitchers were part of the Carolina rotation. Carlos Rodriguez, who has already pitched in the big leagues. Logan Henderson already pitched in the big leagues and now Jacob Misiorowski. Every time you see those guys perform, especially the way he did (in his major league debut), you feel really good as a manager.”

The Timber Rattlers were on the road playing at West Michigan on June 8, 2023, when Misiorowski made his Midwest League debut against the Whitecaps.

It went well for Misiorowski, who pitched 5⅓ innings of one-hit, one-run baseball with one walk and seven strikeouts.

Of the 76 pitches he threw, 49 were strikes with 12 looking and 13 swing-and-misses.

“This was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen,” Timber Rattlers broadcaster and director of media relations Chris Mehring said. “Just being in the broadcast booth and you’re looking out and seeing something like that.

“I don’t know if I’m capable of describing it adequately. I think it helps that you hear the thump of the mitt and you look up and see 100 on the videoboard and you’re like, ‘OK, that’s pretty fast. That’s pretty special.'"

The postgame reaction to what happened in Misiorowski’s Timber Rattlers debut may best explain how people in the Brewers and Timber Rattlers organizations were thinking.

“There’s usually two buses back to the hotel after the game and I’m taking my time getting the story about the game out,” Mehring said. “I don’t want to miss the second bus, so I’m down waiting in the hallway where the team comes out to get to the bus.

“Drew Thomas, our pitching coach, is coming out to catch the second bus, too. We look at each other and we both have this ‘This is the most amazing thing I’ve seen (look)’ and we just go up and hug.”

Timber Rattlers fans didn’t have much chance to see Misiorowski at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium during his short tenure.

He made just two starts there, both against the Lansing Lugnuts. On June 20, 2023, Misiorowski allowed three hits and two walks over 4⅔ innings while striking out five. Five days later, he gave up two runs on four hits and four walks over 2⅔ innings while striking out five.

After two more starts on the road with the Timber Rattlers, Misiorowski got moved up to the Brewers’ Double-A affiliate in Biloxi, Mississippi.

And if you’re wondering what it’s like to be in the batter’s box facing Misiorowski, Diaz had this to say.

“I faced him just one time in batting practice,” said Diaz about a BP session in Carolina. “It was the only time I faced him. I prefer to catch him.”

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: 'He thinks he's the best': Brewers phenom Jacob Misiorowski showed confidence with Timber Rattlers