Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh was supposed to be one of the most anticipated pitching matchups of the 2026 regular season. It was supposed to feature Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes, the 2025 National League Cy Young Award winner, going against Milwaukee Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski, one of the front-runners for the 2026 award.

That matchup is not going to happen.

Brewers skipping Jacob Misiorowski's start before the All-Star break due to fatigue 

Shortly after the Brewers were swept in a Saturday doubleheader, manager Pat Murphy announced that Misiorowski is going to be skipped on Sunday to give him some additional rest before the All-Star break.

Murphy said it was a case of fatigue for his ace starter, as well as the fact that he had not fully recovered from his previous start as well as they had hoped. 

Robert Gasser will start for the Brewers against Skenes. 

That news sends Misiorowski into the All-Star break with a 1.62 ERA, tops in Major League Baseball, and a league-leading 167 strikeouts. He has 19 more strikeouts than any other pitcher in the majors, while the next closest qualified pitcher in ERA is New York Yankees starter Cam Schlitter at 2.05. 

Even though Skenes has not been anywhere near as dominant as he has been over his first two full seasons, owning a 3.58 ERA going into Sunday, this was still a potential monster pitching matchup. 

Now fans will have to wait for it.

The Pirates and Brewers play each other seven more times after Sunday, so there is still a chance their paths could cross in one of them.

The bigger concern for the Brewers is whether or not the fatigue for Misiorowski means anything. Is it just the attrition that comes from being a Major League starting pitcher? Or is it something more of a red flag? Not only has he been the best pitcher in baseball this season, but he has lit up the radar gun in a way no other pitcher has in the modern era, routinely topping 103 and 104 mph. The human arm is not really meant for that sort of workload, and pitchers who reach those velocities tend to eventually have issues. The Brewers are still a long way from having to really worry about that, but given the current state of the game and the current injury rate for pitchers, it is always going to be something in the thought process of baseball fans.