Under The Knife 7/22/26

The End of Five

JACOB MISIOROWSKI, SP MIL (no injury)

I think we’re seeing the end of the strict five-man rotation and perhaps, the strict rotation. If you’ve ever played Diamond Mind Baseball, you understand the strict part. Five men (or four, or six I guess), one after the other, with only double-headers and rainouts causing anything in the way of disorder. For years, I’ve argued against this and to a more data-driven and progressive method. I’m not saying the Brewers are following this, but there’s an element and if it works in the extreme that is Jacob Misiorowski, I think we see it universally.

After skipping Misiorowski’s last turn before the ASB, he came back with a very delimited start - four innings, 65 pitches, and now the Brewers are saying he’ll get extra rest before his next start on top of it. This is all despite injury issues, meaning the Brewers are from day to day not looking to the next name on the rota, but at the names on the availability chart. This includes relievers and has to be factored in given Misiorowski’s defined short starts and the dearth of deep games in general.

That sounds like a subtle distinction, but it changes everything. Instead of asking whose turn comes next, they’re asking which pitcher gives them the best chance to win today while preserving the staff for tomorrow and, more importantly, October. That calculation includes the bullpen as much as the starters. If Misiorowski is only expected to cover four or five innings, the relievers behind him have to be positioned accordingly. Thursday’s off-day, a fresh Brandon Sproat, and the current state of the bullpen become part of the same equation.

What the Brewers are really buying with these extra days is information. Modern pitching departments don’t just ask, “How does your arm feel?” They’re looking for recovery markers that tell them whether the body has truly bounced back. That starts with the obvious - strength testing, range of motion, grip strength, soreness reports - but increasingly includes objective measures such as force-plate jumps, countermovement testing, and simple neuromuscular assessments that can reveal fatigue long before a pitcher notices it himself. (Misiorowski saying his “legs weren’t underneath him” indicates lower half measurements being a part of the issue.) Some clubs would like to monitor heart-rate variability and sleep quality but wearable data is extremely limited and mostly non-existent, while others rely more heavily on bullpen data, watching whether extension, release point, spin efficiency, and command return to baseline after a start, largely using systems like Kinetrax. The Brewers have been among the more progressive organizations in blending biomechanics with old-fashioned observation. None of these numbers, taken alone, predicts injury.

Together, they paint a picture of readiness. When enough of those indicators drift in the wrong direction, the smartest decision isn’t to skip a start forever. It’s to steal a day or two before the body demands a month. That’s the difference between managing workload and simply counting innings, and it’s one of the reasons Milwaukee has become one of the better organizations in baseball at keeping talented arms available when the games matter most.

For decades, rotations have been treated like train schedules. Increasingly, they look more like air traffic control, constantly adjusting to conditions in real time. That approach is messier, but baseball has rarely rewarded rigid thinking, and the next competitive edge may simply be giving up on the idea that every fifth day is somehow sacred.

Are any of my followers/readers/subscribers in the Orlando or Sarasota area? I have a very specific area question if you have a few seconds.