Why Rays' key to World Series victory might revolve around Jacob Misiorowski originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Tampa Bay Rays are facing the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2026 MLB World Series, and after the Brewers swept the reining champions in four games in the NLCS, the Brewers are favorites in this matchup.
They also have home-field advantage, which makes the Rays' task a lot harder. But there's certainly a path for the Rays to win it all. But how can they actually win the World Series?
ESPN's Alden Gonzalez highlighted how the Brewers have a vulnerable starting rotation, led by Jacob Misiorowski, and that if the Rays can chase him out of the game early, the Rays could be set up for a lot of success in the World Series.
Rays can beat Brewers by getting after Jacob Misiorowski
"To beat the Brewers, you have to take advantage of their starting rotation," Gonzalez writes. "It begins with running up the pitch counts of their two front-line starters, Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson."
If the Rays are able to make the Brewers' top-two starting pitchers throw a lot of pitches early in games, making it so they don't last long in their respective starts, they can have a real chance of winning it all.
It might seem like a simple thing to chase a pitcher early, but considering the Brewers' top-heavy bullpen, getting to the middle of the bullpen might prove to be a key to this series.
Besides, in Games 3 and 4, Milwaukee will be relying on more of their bullpen, with starters Dustin May, Shane Drohan, and Robert Gasser set to be involved.
If the Rays can force the Brewers to the bullpen early in Games 1 and 2, they could set themselves up nicely for the rest of the series.
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As Gonzalez put it, "scoring early will be a must for the Rays." They can win the World Series even if they struggle against Misiorowski and Henderson, but if they have success against them, their odds of winning the series will increase significantly.
The snowball effect of chasing Misiorowski and/or Henderson from a game early would be huge. Taxing the Brewers' bullpen is the key to the Rays' success, and to do so, they're going to have to get after Misiorowski.
Games 1 and 2 might be a telling outcome for how the series will go. If the Rays can tax the bullpens, they could be set up for success once the series heads to Tampa Bay.
They'll need their own pitchers to play great, but if the Rays' offense can force the pitch counts of Henderson and Misiorowski to go high early in their respective starts, they could be set up for success in the World Series against the Brewers.
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