Heading into the regular season, Milwaukee Brewers pitchers Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle
Harrison had potential but also question marks. Misiorowski was entering his first full season
and Harrison, who came over in a trade with the Red Sox, hadn’t proven himself yet as a big
leaguer. However, both pitchers have been Milwaukee’s anchors in the starting rotation. Jacob
Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison have formed baseball’s most unexpected, best one-two punch.
The most optimistic Milwaukee Brewers fan couldn’t have predicted this. Heading into 2026,
Jacob Misiorowski was entering his first full big-league season and had struggled during the last
two months of 2025. Given how the end of last season went, many people thought that he
wasn’t ready to be a top-of-the-rotation arm. Some even thought that the team and
Misiorowski could’ve benefited from keeping Freddy Peralta one more season.
Meanwhile, Kyle Harrison came over in a trade with the Red Sox, with Boston acquiring Rookie
of the Year runner-up Caleb Durbin. Brewers’ fans were very upset with this trade. In parts of
three seasons with the Giants and Red Sox, Kyle Harrison was 9-9 with a 4.29 ERA, 169
strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.323. While Harrison was a former top pitching prospect, he had yet
to spend an entire season in the big leagues. On paper, Milwaukee had seemingly traded its
potential long-term third baseman for a project pitcher.
So far this season, Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison are proving doubters wrong.
Misiorowski is becoming one of the best starters in baseball and Harrison is finally living up to
his potential. They’ve formed arguably the most unexpected one-two punch not just on top of
the Brewers’ rotation but the league. In 19 combined starts between the two, Jacob
Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison are 9-3 with a 1.85 ERA, 147 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 0.9545.
Even more impressive is that they’ve currently combined to go on a 36.1 scoreless innings
streak in May! Misiorowski himself hasn’t given up an earned run this month and currently
leads the National League in strikeouts with 88.
Despite their relative inexperience, both Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison have become
rotation anchors. Given Brandon Woodruff’s injury woes, this has become even more
important. Not only are they both pitching like All-Star caliber starters, but serious Cy Young
contenders as well. If it weren’t for Shohei Ohtani’s magnificence, they both might’ve been top
candidates for the award. While many expected the Brewers to be searching for answers at the
top of the rotation, Milwaukee may have already found them.
