Jacob Misiorowski's 104.8 mph is the most overrated number in this World Series

Everybody's going to talk about the radar gun tonight. You'll see 104.8 on the screen before Jacob Misiorowski throws a pitch in Game 1, and you'll hear that MLB.com clocked it as the fastest postseason pitch since tracking started in 2008. Great. It's also the least important thing he did that night.

Here's the rest of that night. The Padres fouled off 30 pitches in the first four innings of the NLDS opener, and Misiorowski was out of the game before the fifth at 88 pitches. Then the Dodgers saw 94 pitches from him in 4 1/3 innings in Game 1 of the NLCS. Two October starts, zero fifth innings. That's the number I'd put on the screen.

He's not a fraud. He was the best pitcher in baseball this year, and the line is ridiculous: a 1.80 ERA, 252 strikeouts, a 0.80 WHIP and a .157 opponents' average, all major league bests. If you'd told me in July I'd be writing this column, I'd have asked what you were drinking.

But there's a difference between a guy hitters can't hit and a guy hitters can't get rid of, and October is where you find out which one you've got. San Diego didn't need to square him up. They spoiled pitches until his night was over. That's a plan, and Tampa Bay has had plenty of time to watch it work twice.

The other side has a real point, so I'll give it to them. He allowed one run to the Dodgers. One. Milwaukee swept that series anyway, won a franchise-record 103 games, and he gets 11 days of rest before tonight. A rested arm with that stuff might be a different animal, and short and good still beats long and bad.

Except a sweep isn't the World Series. CBS Sports pointed out that Logan Henderson started Game 2 of both earlier rounds behind him, and the Brewers haven't said what they're doing after tonight. Every inning Misiorowski can't cover is an inning the bullpen has to find this weekend. And the Rays have Drew Rasmussen lined up on normal rest. He's 11-0 with a 1.73 ERA in 15 starts since the All-Star break, he started Game 1 of both Tampa Bay series, and Milwaukee is the team that drafted him and traded him for Willy Adames. If he goes seven tonight and Misiorowski goes four, that's going to be a long winter of somebody explaining the trade again.

Neither of these franchises has ever won a World Series, so somebody's getting a parade they've never had. I'd just like the guy with the best season in baseball to pitch like the series is longer than one night.

I could look dumb by 11 o'clock. If Misiorowski is still on the mound in the sixth inning, I'll say I was wrong, and Tank will remind me anyway. Until he does it, I don't care how hard he throws.

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