Brewers look to future with Jacob Misiorowski set to debut vs. Cardinals

The highly anticipated MLB debut of pitching prospect Jacob Misiorowski is set to take place on Thursday when the Milwaukee Brewers host the visiting St. Louis Cardinals in the first of a four-game set.

Misiorowski, 23, is the top pitching prospect in the Milwaukee system, compiling a 4-2 record with a 2.13 ERA in 13 games with Triple-A Nashville. The 2022 second-round draft pick made just 14 starts over two seasons with the Nashville Sounds, but the Brewers are already proving their faith in the 6-foot-7, Blue Springs, Mo., native.

"I think it just plays into the fact that the Brewers trust me, and they think I have the strength to do it," Misiorowski said on Wednesday. "I think I'm ready and willing to do it. So, I'm excited."

The Brewers enter play having dropped three of four games -- including two of three against the Atlanta Braves. Milwaukee scored just seven runs throughout the series loss to Atlanta while striking out 36 times. The club has totaled just 11 runs over its six-game homestand -- which will continue against the Cardinals on Thursday.

"One thing about our guys is that we're always going to battle, but we just haven't thrown it all together so far," Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said of the lackluster offense over the last week. "It's not that anybody has been terrible, it just hasn't all happened for us."

St. Louis is also aiming to turn the tide after losing its fourth straight game on Wednesday, which concluded a three-game sweep by the visiting Toronto Blue Jays. The Cardinals' pitching staff has surrendered 27 runs over the four-game skid.

"We talked about it before the series started, this might have been one of our toughest series' as far as matchups go," St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said of the Toronto series. "Just because of the amount of contact that group makes and what we do as a pitching staff. We knew there would be challenges we'd have to navigate and (Toronto) continued to show why they're first in the league at being the toughest to strike out."

Since winning 12 of 13 games in May, St. Louis has gone 10-12 and sits five games behind the National League Central-leading Chicago Cubs. The Cardinals enter the four-game series a half-game ahead of the Brewers.

Veteran right-hander Sonny Gray (7-1, 3.35 ERA) is slated to make his 14th start of the season for the Cardinals and will look to continue his recent dominant stretch.

Gray has thrown 13 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings, including a seven-inning, 10-strikeout appearance in a win over the Texas Rangers on May 31. He followed that outing up with 6 1/3 scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, striking out five in a 5-0 St. Louis win.

The 35-year-old is 4-5 with a 3.23 ERA in 17 career starts against the Brewers. He allowed three earned runs across six innings in a no-decision against Milwaukee on April 26. The Cardinals won 6-5 on Nolan Arenado's walk-off home run.

--Field Level Media