There’s one runaway favorite to win the National League Cy Young Award, and it’s Milwaukee Brewers star pitcher Jacob Misiorowski.
“The Miz,” as he’s commonly known, has delivered on all of his immense promise in 2026, and then some. While elite velocity has always been one of his strong suits, Misiorowski has added impressive command and control to his repertoire. After walking over four hitters per nine innings in 2025, he’s lowered that number to just 2.26 in 2026. And his other numbers have improved dramatically as a result.
Just 84 hits allowed in 155 innings, good for a minuscule 0.79 WHIP, with 227 strikeouts and a microscopic .154 batting average allowed. He’s turning opposing major league hitters into pitchers hitting. No surprise then, that “The Miz” went 25 straight starts without allowing more than three earned runs.
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That streak ended Wednesday night. Matched up against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley, Misiorowski turned in an uncharacteristically rough outing. He lasted just four innings, surrendering five runs on five hits and four walks while striking out five. The line was far from catastrophic, but it fell well short of the standard he has set for himself this season.
It continued a bit of a “concerning” pattern for the Brewers, where Misiorowski’s otherworldly numbers have dropped off a bit in his most recent four starts.
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While his average fastball velocity remained at or above his season averages on Wednesday, the four innings added to his already career high total. In 2025, between the minors and big leagues, Misiorowski threw 129.1 innings. With at least four more starts remaining, he could push 180 for the year. And with the Brewers already a lock for the postseason and running away with the top overall seed, it’s given rise to questions about the most advisable course of action for the 24-year-old.
One former Cy Young Award winner had a pretty definitive view on it: start skipping starts now.
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“In my career, once I started leaking oil, it was hard for me to even take a week or two off and get what I had back, if it was over usage,” said former Padres star Jake Peavy during a discussion on MLB Now.
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“They’ve got to skip him a start or two and get him feeling fresh again,” Peavy added. “If he’s fresh, they can win the World Series…to win a World Series, you have to ride this guy.
If they’re going to make the run they’re making, it’s going to have to be on the back of Misiorowski. Not to put too much on the young man, but this is just how you win. You’ve got to get him healthy, rested, let’s go.”
To his point, the Brewers might be considered the most likely team to win the World Series, given the advantages of a first-round bye and likely home field throughout the postseason. Their offense has been remarkably consistent, led by Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang, William Contreras, Andrew Vaughn and a surprising Jake Bauers. The starting staff is deep and talented, with Kyle Harrison and Logan Henderson a difficult matchup for any team in a short series. And the bullpen, with Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe, and the versatile Aaron Ashby shortening games.
But the key to finally winning the organization’s first championship is, without question, Misiorowski. Few pitchers, if any, have been as reliably dominant as “The Miz” in 2026. The question then becomes: Is it worth sacrificing a few starts down the stretch if it means having him pitch three times in a best-of-seven NLCS or fill the kind of role Yoshinobu Yamamoto did for the Dodgers in the 2025 World Series?
Or do you value keeping him in his routine, and trust that he won’t wear down as he approaches 200 innings between the regular and postseason? That’s a question the Brewers coaching staff, front office, and likely Misiorowski himself are wrestling with right now, and the World Series might hinge on it.
