The Milwaukee Brewers are facing off against the San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series and Jacob Misiorowski will be on the mound for Game 1.
Misiorowski is the favorite to win the National League Cy Young Award and has a tough task ahead of him. The Padres are red hot and made easy work of the Chicago Cubs last series. Their lineup is full of stars who are playing their best baseball at the right time. However, Misiorowski has not seen a lineup he cannot handle yet.
He is set to start Game 1, and if there's a Game 5, he will be lined up to take the mound on five days' rest. However, recently teams have started allowing pitchers to do their side work during games more often. Misiorowski watched his childhood idol Chris Sale come out of the bullpen to seal a win for the Atlanta Braves on Thursday, and Misiorowski was asked if he would be open to throwing in a game instead of throwing a traditional bullpen.
"Give me the ball," Misiorowski told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Curt Hogg on Friday.
That's the attitude every team wants their ace to have. There's no way the Padres lineup can feel comfortable knowing they may have to face Misiorowski three times in the series, and that one of those times could be out of the bullpen.
Misiorowski has lit up the radar gun all season, but he is coming off a week of rest, and the adrenaline of the postseason always seems to drive pitchers' stuff up a tick. He could be a nightmare to face in Game 1 for the Padres, and they will likely take the same approach other teams do against him: wait him out. However, this is not a normal three-game series, and waiting him out does not mean they are safe from seeing him again.
Judging by Misiorowski's statement, the Padres may have to worry about him coming out of the bullpen in a big spot at some point. The Brewers limited his workload in the final month of the season, and really the entire second half. Now's the time to let him cut loose.