Cardinals' reported Jacob Misiorowski equivalent should evoke cautious optimism among fans

Jacob Misiorowski is the most dynamic pitcher in baseball. He holds the third-fastest pitch in major league history, but he's more than just a flamethrower; he also generates elite extension and spin rates on his pitches. If some baseball-crazed scientist were to create a pitcher in a lab, it would emerge as a near-duplicate of Misiorowski. So when Baseball America's Geoff Pontes names St. Louis Cardinals pitching prospect Brandon Clarke in the same breath as the Milwaukee Brewers ace, fans will sit up and take notice.

Clarke, a left-hander whom the Cardinals acquired from the Boston Red Sox in the trade for Sonny Gray, is one of the team's prospects who is headed to the Arizona Fall League, and he may have the highest ceiling of any pitching prospect in the organization. According to Baseball America (subscription required), Clarke is the hardest thrower among pitchers in the Arizona Fall League in 2026. with a maximum velocity of 103.1 mph.

During a Baseball America podcast breaking down the Arizona Fall League rosters, Pontes mentioned Clarke and said that "other than Jacob Misiorowski, there aren't many guys who are as electric for one inning or one at-bat as Clarke is."

By possessing a player in the Misiorowski mold, the Cardinals and President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom are showing that the team's longtime strategy of hoarding soft-tossing ground-ball-oriented pitchers is a thing of the past. Because of their revamped development staff, the Cardinals can now afford to pursue pitchers like Clarke who have massive upside but also significant bust risk, with Bloom and the organization believing that they can help these players reach the upper end of their potential outcomes.

Clarke is ascending the Cardinals prospect lists, with MLB Pipeline placing him at No. 9 in the Cardinals' strong farm system. He has pitched well this season, holding a 3.34 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 29.2 innings across four minor league levels. He could stand to cut down his 5.2 walks allowed per nine innings, but that number is still a career best. Cardinals fans who dream of their team owning the next Misiorowski aren't misguided, but they should pump the brakes a bit.

The comparison to Misiorowski is apt, but there's reason for fans to be guarded with their hype

Many scouts predicted a future in the bullpen for Misiorowski because he was almost solely a fastball/slider pitcher prior to signing with the Brewers, and even while he was pitching in the minor leagues, Misiorowski's spotty control led scouts to see him as a wild card. But Milwaukee worked its magic, arming him with a wipeout curveball and pushing his control all the way up to above average in the major leagues.

Despite Clarke's top-tier velocity, his fastball doesn't hold the same movement traits that have led analysts to swoon over Misiorowski, nor can his curveball compare to that of Misiorowski. There's also no guarantee that the Cardinals can hone Clarke's control to reach levels approaching the major league average, much less what Milwaukee has managed to accomplish with Misiorowski on that front.

Cardinals pitchers have proven to be very durable over the past few seasons thanks to Oli Marmol's and Dusty Blake's careful use of the rotation, but the starters' relative lack of pitch velocity when compared with the rest of the league may have also played a role. As the team catches up to the rest of the crowd and drafts and develops hurlers who throw gas, injuries are almost certainly going to strike more frequently, and the Cardinals are already seeing it occur at the lower levels.

Misiorowski has yet to succumb to the increasingly common Tommy John surgery, but arm and shoulder woes are always a threat to pitchers, especially those who throw as hard as Clarke and Misiorowski do. If those strike Clarke again — he's already dealt with an aneurysm in his left shoulder — there's no guarantee that his stuff will return to 100%. In the event that the worst-case scenario comes to pass and Clarke needs Tommy John surgery at some point, it's possible that some of his arm talent remains on the operating table.

A lot could go wrong as Clarke climbs the ladder to St. Louis, and expecting everything to fall into place as neatly as it has for Misiorowski and the Brewers so far would be foolish. Still, there's no doubt that the Cardinals have a special talent on their hand with Clarke, and if he's developed properly, the payoff could be massive.

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