The Brewers are a lot of different things to a lot of different people, yet to an outsider like me, I see the National League’s version of the Rays. A small market organization that seems to be an absolute machine at creating great pitchers. So, it’s with that general optimism that I’m viewing the MLB debut of Jacob Misiorowski on Thursday night.
Misiorowski is a former second-round pick and the 68th-best prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. It’s not that difficult to understand the hype, either. Standing at 6’7, Misiorowski has a 70-grade fastball that will touch 100 mph. If there’s a more straight-forward “ace” archetype, I’m not aware of it.
Tonight, Misiorowski and Milwaukee will take on the Cardinals. Here’s my top prop bet for the rookie on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Best Jacob Misiorowski Prop Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Jacob Misiorowski 2+ Walks (-135)
The knock on Misiorowski, as it is for most flame-throwing youngsters, is command. To wit, across two levels in 2024, Misiorowski walked 14.4% of the batters he faced in his 97.1 innings. This season, exclusively at Triple-A, the right-hander has issued 31 free passes in his 63.1 innings of work, equating out to a slightly better, but still grotesque, 12.3% walk rate. I have my doubts that Misiorowski’s control is magically going to get better in the big leagues — at least in 2025.
In terms of specifically walks, St. Louis isn’t the worst matchup in the world, as the team ranks in the lower-half of MLB in walk rate (8.4%) and in the upper-half in chase rate (32.0%). At the same time, the Cardinals aren’t the Rockies or the Rangers when it comes to aggression. St. Louis sits 23rd in swing rate (46.4%) and it stands to reason that this lineup is equipped to show some patience if Misiorowski isn’t even coming close with his offerings. I’m not guaranteeing that Misiorowski will have a poor start, but he’s walked multiple opponents in seven of his 13 appearances at Triple-A in 2025. That includes nine in his last seven innings. Not great.
