Two of the more celebrated rookie pitchers in baseball will square off on Sunday afternoon when Milwaukee Brewers star Jacob Misiorowski faces fellow right-hander Bubba Chandler of the host Pittsburgh Pirates in the teams’ series finale.
Misiorowski (4-2, 4.50 ERA), who is 0-1 with an 8.59 ERA over his past four starts, is looking to rediscover the form he showed in his initial outings before his brief stint on the injured list.
Misiorowski landed on the IL with a left tibia contusion after he was hit on the left shin by a line drive off the bat of Seiya Suzuki of the Chicago Cubs on July 28.
Misiorowski gave up three runs on six hits, including a home run, and walked one while striking out four over 4 1/3 innings in a no-decision last Monday against the Philadelphia Phillies. He beat the Pirates for his third major league win on June 25 in Milwaukee, allowing two hits and striking out eight over five shutout innings.
“You have to rely on the defense. It’s not just all you,” Misiorowski said recently about what he’s learned over his first 11 starts. “Going through the minor leagues, you can kind of fly by the seat of your pants and make it happen by yourself, but up here, you have to rely on those guys.”
Misiorowski will try to follow the stellar starts in this weekend’s series already by Quinn Priester and Brandon Woodruff, which has aided an injury-ravaged bullpen.
The Brewers (88-55), who will try to sweep the series on Sunday and who are looking to secure the top seed in the National League playoffs, are patching things together while five of their key relievers — including All-Star closer Trevor Megill — are on the IL.
Chandler (2-0, 2.25 ERA) is making his fourth appearance overall since his promotion from Triple-A Indianapolis on Aug. 22. He will make his first major league start.
The top-ranked pitching prospect for the Pirates and in baseball overall (per MLB Pipeline) at the time of his debut, Chandler has gone four innings in each of his first three long relief appearances. He has recorded three strikeouts in each of them and walked only one batter over his first 12 career innings.
In Chandler’s most recent outing this past Tuesday, he gave up three runs — the first he’s allowed — including two home runs and six hits overall. Pittsburgh (64-79), which posted a 9-7 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, has won all three times Chandler has pitched.
Chandler became the first Pirates pitcher to throw a four-inning save in his debut and the fourth to do so since saves were first tracked in 1969. Chandler also is the first pitcher to accomplish the feat without allowing a run.
Pirates manager Don Kelly confirmed Chandler’s start after their 4-1 loss to Milwaukee on Saturday night.
“To have Bubba in a situation like that, where he can go out to the ‘pen, work on things at the big league level and be here to learn from the guys up here, learn from the staff and players, and get feedback from the major league game is going to be really important for him and for us,” Kelly said recently.
–Field Level Media
