SPORTS LINE
The Milwaukee Brewers.
The Jacob Misiorowski show continued Friday night with one of the most dominant performances in baseball history. Brewers fireballer Jacob Misiorowski turned in his finest outing one year to the day of his major league debut. Misiorowski dominated the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night, striking out 15 and tossing a complete-game one-hitter in a 6-0 victory. As Misiorowski strode to the mound for the ninth inning, the capacity crowd of 40,205 rose in unison to cheer for the 24-year-old right-hander in what turned out to be one of the most impressive performances in franchise history.
With the crowd still standing and cheering, Misiorowski struck out Justin Crawford to end the game. He raised his hands and turned to embrace catcher William Contreras. Misiorowski’s final pitch, No. 95 on the night, was a 103.1 mph fastball by Justin Crawford for strikeout No. 15. Eight of his nine pitches in the ninth inning were over 100 mph. The one that wasn’t? It was a 92.2 mph changeup. Misiorowski finished Friday’s start with a 100 Game Score, which is a Bill James metric that grades a start by adding and subtracting points based on certain outcomes (outs records, hits allowed, strikeouts, etc.).
It is the first 100 Game Score since Justin Verlander’s 14-strikeout no-hitter in 2019. Here are the number of earned runs Misiorowski has allowed in his last eight starts: 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0. He is the fourth pitcher ever to allow no more than one earned run in an eight-start span. Friday was the first anniversary of Misiorowski’s major league debut. In his first year as a big leaguer, Misiorowski went 13-5 with a 2.65 ERA in 153 innings spanning 28 starts and one relief appearance. He struck out 218 batters in those 153 innings. The win improved the NL Central, leading the Brewers to 42-25 in the season.
The Milwaukee Bucks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo doesn’t want to leave Milwaukee, but he’ll do it if he absolutely must. It’s way more than just a game, and if you haven’t caught on by now, that’s how Giannis views his craft. So, he has always done what he has the right to do as a legendary basketball talent and holds the Bucks organization to a competitive standard that, for the first time since his evolution into a star player, fell short this season. Milwaukee has more flexibility this offseason than it’s had since pulling the trigger on the Damian Lillard trade three years ago. There’s clearly something missing from this team, whether it be a true running-mate for Giannis or the requisite complementary players to contend for a title.
That’s for GM Jon Horst to determine this summer, but he can’t do so without knowing if they are building with Giannis. Whether the ultimatum posed by Bucks ownership is fair or not, all parties involved know that time is of the essence, and opposing franchises are chomping at the bit to steal Giannis from Milwaukee for pennies on the dollar. This is the ultimate chance for both sides to show they meant what they’ve said all these years, commit to closing out Giannis’ prime together, and build another title. contender. Giannis Antetokounmpo’s story with the Milwaukee Bucks is only going to end if one or both parties decide to pull the trigger, but if Giannis’ latest social media antics are any indication, his intentions remain true to what he’s been telling us the whole time.
Giannis recently liked and commented on an Instagram post from the Rest Period podcast, in which one of the hosts, Kyle Krogmann, spoke about the Greek Freak’s future and why he believes that he’ll ultimately stay in Milwaukee: “He could’ve been traded five years ago, if he really wanted to. He probably would have three championships by now. He could’ve teamed up with Steph Curry,” Kroggman said. “But I think Giannis is deeper than that, and I think people are overlooking his greatness as a person.” Hopefully Giannis’s wish is granted, and he gets to start a Buck and retire a Buck.
