Well, folks, it finally happened. After weeks of watching this kid make big league hitters look like I did in my playing days, Jacob Misiorowski went out on Thursday and reminded everybody that he is, in fact, a human being. Gave up two home runs. Took the loss. The Brewers fell to the Reds, 7-2.
Now let me put "the loss" in perspective for you. Misiorowski struck out 10 batters over five innings. Ten! And of the five runs charged to him, only one was earned. So he essentially pitched well enough to win and the baseball gods just decided not to cooperate. I know the feeling. I once went 0-for-August.
It was the first time in 13 starts that anybody had taken him deep twice. Thirteen starts! Do you know how good you have to be for two home runs to feel like a national scandal? Most pitchers would frame that box score. Ten strikeouts, one earned run. But when you've set the bar at "literally unhittable," a normal-great game looks like an off day.
Here's what I've learned in 60 years around this game: the great ones aren't the guys who never have a bad day. They're the guys who have a bad day, tip their cap, and come back five days later like it never happened. I've got a feeling we're about to find out exactly which kind Misiorowski is.
He'll be back on the mound soon. And if I know anything about this kid — and after this season, I think I do — the Reds just woke something up.