Misiorowski sidelined from All-Star Game by Brewers’ rotation math
The Brewers’ rotation forces Misiorowski to start the Sunday before the break, wiping out his All-Star Game chance and thinning the NL pitching corps.
The Brewers’ rotation forces Misiorowski to start the Sunday before the break, wiping out his All-Star Game chance and thinning the NL pitching corps.
Jacob Misiorowski won’t pitch in the All-Star Game after the Brewers penciled him in to start the final Sunday before the break. The 24-year-old right-hander, Milwaukee’s ace and a first-time All-Star, is ruled out by MLB’s rule that pitchers who start the day before the break are ineligible for the Midsummer Classic. The Brewers’ rotation has no wiggle room: Misiorowski is scheduled to face the Reds on July 14 at American Family Field, leaving no buffer to reshuffle his start.
That locks him out of the July 16 All-Star Game at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The league’s pitching committee confirmed the decision Tuesday, citing the “day before the break” clause in the All-Star selection rules. The ripple effects hit both the NL squad and Brewers fans.
1 innings, flashing the kind of dominance that could have changed the All-Star Game’s outcome. Instead, the NL must scramble for a replacement from a thinner talent pool, while Milwaukee’s rotation shuffle—already tight after Brandon Woodruff’s injury—loses a marquee arm for the showcase. The scheduling quirk exposes a structural flaw in how MLB handles All-Star roster construction.
Unlike the NFL or NBA, MLB’s pitching rules create a hard cutoff that can sideline top performers based on arbitrary calendar dates. The NL’s pitching committee has no discretion to bend the rule, even when a pitcher like Misiorowski is in the midst of a Cy Young-caliber season. The Brewers, meanwhile, are now forced to defend their rotation strategy amid fan frustration and front-office scrutiny.
NL All-Star pitching coach Craig Counsell downplayed the optics, noting the league’s depth and the need to respect roster integrity. “We’ll work with what we’ve got,” Counsell said. ” The Brewers, meanwhile, face questions about their rotation management as the trade deadline looms, with Misiorowski’s absence adding another layer of complexity to their postseason planning.
Beyond the All-Star break, Misiorowski’s exclusion underscores a broader tension in modern baseball: the clash between traditional scheduling and the league’s showcase events. The MLB calendar is built around 162-game marathons, where every start is a chess piece in a larger strategy. The All-Star Game, meant to celebrate the season’s best, now risks becoming a casualty of that same rigidity.
The Brewers, for their part, are stuck explaining why their rotation—already hobbled by Woodruff’s Tommy John rehab—couldn’t spare a single day’s rest for a franchise cornerstone. The rule’s unintended consequence is a perverse incentive: teams may now avoid starting their aces in the final series before the break, even if it means benching them in high-leverage games. That could water down the quality of the final pre-break slate, turning what should be a marquee weekend into a strategic afterthought.
For a league trying to sell its stars to casual fans, this is a branding misfire. What’s next: The NL will name Misiorowski’s replacement by Friday, likely a pitcher who avoided a pre-break start. The Brewers, meanwhile, must navigate the break with Woodruff still sidelined and Misiorowski’s next turn uncertain—potentially reshaping their rotation down the stretch, where every start carries playoff implications.
The broader fallout could extend beyond the All-Star break. If Misiorowski continues to dominate, the Brewers may need to adjust their rotation sequence to ensure he’s available for critical September games, including potential playoff push scenarios where his arm is most valuable. Read at ESPN
Misiorowski’s absence weakens the NL’s All-Star pitching depth and denies Brewers fans a chance to see the 24-year-old phenom in the Midsummer Classic. The Brewers’ rotation decision turns a rising star into a spectator and spotlights how scheduling quirks can reshape All-Star rosters. The structural rigidity of MLB’s pitching rules also raises questions about whether the league should revisit its All-Star roster construction to prevent similar situations in the future. The rule’s unintended consequences—like diluted pre-break games and perverse incentives for teams—further expose the need for a more flexible approach.
ESPNespn.comJul 2, 10:44 PMen
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