“Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” - Benjamin Franklin (1789)
The meaning of this quote by Franklin is to highlight the inevitability of certain outcomes in life. Even back in 1789, Benjamin Franklin understood that there were two certainties that we will face in our lifetimes.
Death and Paying Government Taxes.
This MLB season, we have found a third certainty: having a bad day in the batter’s box when Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski takes the mound.
Three words that I have incorporated into my tweets all season long….Death, Taxes, and Jacob Misiorowski. At first it was just me trying to be funny, but as time chugged along, it became a reality.
Misiorowski, or “The Miz,” has been virtually unstoppable this season. He is one of the biggest reasons the Brewers are in first place in the National League Central and own the best record (74-46) in Major League Baseball. The Brewers are doing this after moving former All-Star pitcher Freddy Peralta to the New York Mets this past offseason and essentially having no Brandon Woodruff, also a former All-Star, in the rotation this season.
So how is the Brew Crew doing this? Outside of great organizational development and running a tight ship…it’s Jacob Misiorowski.
2026 Season Stats:
22 GS | 133.0 IP | 204 K | 13.8 SO/9 | 1.76 ERA | 2.04 SIERA | 0.737 WHIP
Just look at these numbers. They are RIDICULOUS!
Misiorowski is the first pitcher to reach the 200 K threshold this season in the major leagues, which got me thinking. Is 300 possible?
In the Modern-ERA (since 1900) of Major League Baseball, 19 different pitchers have reached the 300-strikeout mark in a single season. This feat has been accomplished a total of 38 times.
If we go back before 1900, it was done another 31 times.
The most recent players to hit the 300-mark are Gerrit Cole (326) & Justin Verlander (300), who did it as teammates in Houston back in 2019!
The modern-era single-season strikeout record is 383 by Nolan Ryan from back in 1973. Is Misiorowski going to get to that? Absolutely not. Is it fun to watch him chase down 300? You bet it is!
The Brewers have 42 games left in the regular season, so figure 7-9 more starts for Misiorowski depending on rotation availability/health. If he only gets seven more starts, he will need to average more than 13 strikeouts per outing to get close to 300. This is possible for The Miz but highly improbable. He has already thrown 10 double-digit strikeout efforts so far in 2026.
Even though the beginning of the Modern Era for baseball technically starts in the year 1900, I don’t personally consider players from before WW2 “modern”.
If we look at the seasons in which a pitcher reached 300 strikeouts since my birth (1993), the list gets a lot smaller.
The pitchers to reach 300 since that time are as follows:
Randy Johnson (HOF)
Pedro Martinez (HOF)
Curt Schilling (would be in if he shut off his social media)
Clayton Kershaw (Future 1st Ballot HOFer)
Chris Sale (Future 1st Ballot HOFer)
Max Scherzer (Future 1st Ballot HOFer)
Gerrit Cole (Fringe Future HOFer?)
Justin Verlander (Future 1st Ballot HOFer)
The moral of the story is that Jacob Misiorowski would be in elite company after just 37 career starts. Is he a future Hall of Famer? Odds are against him. Is he having one of the most historic seasons for a pitcher in MLB history? Absolutely.
Let us not forget that he is 24 years old and in his second major league season. Let alone his first full season, as he only made 14 starts last year as a rookie.
If the baseball gods are just, his arm won’t fall off from consistently throwing over 100 miles per hour, including top speeds that have reached 105.5 MPH on his four-seam fastball.
Here is to Misiorowski reaching baseball immortality in 2026!