Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski has credited advice from former St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright for a significant improvement in his postseason performance. Misiorowski, a key figure in the Brewers' 2-0 lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, shared how Wainwright's simple guidance on film study has reshaped his mindset.
In his second postseason run, Misiorowski allowed one run on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks over 4 1/3 innings in Game 1. He explained that a conversation with Wainwright, now an MLB on FOX commentator, before Game 2 significantly impacted his approach. "Honestly, big shoutout to Wainwright," Misiorowski said. "I got to talk with him and got to pick his brain a little bit on how to watch video of myself, and brought that into this one, and really stuck with my game plan instead of trying to adapt to the game too much. It worked out."
Misiorowski, who grew up in Missouri, has long viewed Wainwright as an inspiration. The advice from the 18-season Cardinals veteran, who was part of their 2006 World Series-winning team, proved invaluable. Wainwright’s guidance focused on a less critical, more constructive way of reviewing game film.
"The biggest one was the mindset of watching film. I would really get down on myself and couldn’t really watch film by myself. I would get frustrated and have to turn it off," Misiorowski said. "Wainwright was telling me to think about it differently."
Previously, Misiorowski found himself overly critical of minor details in his pitching. Wainwright's advice was to shift focus from immediate correction to planning for improvement. "Before, I was critical of every little movement," Misiorowski explained. "Now, Wainwright’s like, ‘Hey, focus on little things. Instead of fixing it, plan on how to make it better,’ and that’s helped a lot."
This shift in perspective has been instrumental in Misiorowski’s development into one of baseball’s dominant pitchers. This postseason, he has allowed just three runs on nine hits over 8 1/3 innings. His fastball, frequently exceeding 100 mph, has been a key asset as the Brewers aim to advance past the Dodgers, who swept them in last year's NLCS.