Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw gets 100% real about Jacob Misiorowski

Outside of a lead-off home run by Shohei Ohtani, Jacob Misiorowski was lights out versus the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night, striking out 12 batters in 5.2 scoreless innings after surrendering a run to the reigning MVP.

While the fans in attendance were surely captivated by the showdown, The Miz made at least one new fan on the night in the form of Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw, who took the loss to Misiorowski in the contest.

Discussing what he saw from the opposing pitcher during the game with reporters afterwards, Kershaw celebrated his young counterpart, calling his stuff “unbelievable.”

“Yeah, I know him now, I mean, that was super impressive. Yeah, that was unbelievable. He's really special. I mean, everything, obviously the velocity, but he's got four pitches,” Kershaw explained.

“Commands the ball and made it, I mean, I don't know how you hit that, honestly. That's just really tough, so I mean, that crowd, the three guys that came out of the pen for them, plus him, I mean,  I don't think we saw a fastball under 98 today as a team.”

Misiorowski, who Kershaw famously didn't know before the game, was informed of the pitcher's comments and was elated by the information, noting how much it meant to earn praise from his childhood hero.

“Awesome, yeah,” Misiorowski noted. “I mean, that's the guy that you looked up to when I was growing up, so it's awesome to hear stuff like that and, you know, words of encouragement.”

While Misiorowski still has a long way to go to be mentioned in the same conversation as Kershaw, right now, he's the better pitcher, with a star to his career on par with the very best to ever do it. If he can continue to ride that high into the future, who knows? Maybe he'll be giving teams like the Dodgers fits for years to come.