Thursday, October 22
Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know, brought to you by David Adler. Today, we’re looking ahead to the must-see matchup of World Series Game 1.
This year’s World Series is going to bring the heat right from the beginning. In Game 1 tomorrow night, we’ve got the fastest bat in baseball vs. the fastest arm in baseball.
It’s Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski vs. Rays slugger Junior Caminero — which is already a marquee matchup just because it’s a Cy Young favorite vs. an MVP contender.
But their first showdown of the Fall Classic is going to be extra fun to watch because these are two high-octane superstars. It’s going to be pure power vs. pure power.
Misiorowski throws harder than any starting pitcher in baseball. Caminero swings his bat faster than any hitter in baseball. That’s a heavyweight bout worthy of the Fall Classic.
SP with the highest avg. fastball velocity in 2026
1. Jacob Misiorowski: 100.6 mph
2-T. Hunter Greene: 98.3 mph
2-T. Bubba Chandler: 98.3 mph
4-T. Eury Pérez: 98.2 mph
4-T. Jared Jones: 98.2 mph
Hitters with the highest avg. bat speed in 2026
1. Junior Caminero: 79.4 mph
2. Jordan Walker: 79.3 mph
3. Nick Kurtz: 78.2 mph
4. Cam Smith: 78.0 mph
5. Oneil Cruz: 77.7 mph
We have a lot of fun nuggets in our full breakdown of this “best vs. best” matchup, but here are two numbers that define these players and their ridiculous seasons:
• 1,211: That’s the number of fastballs Misiorowski has thrown in triple digits this season. It’s almost 500 more than any other pitcher has thrown in a year since the start of pitch tracking in 2008 (Aroldis Chapman hit triple digits 723 times in 2016).
• 954: That’s the number of “fast swings” Caminero has uncorked this season, which means a bat speed of 75 mph or faster. We only have bat-tracking data since the 2023 All-Star break, but that’s the most in a year by anyone so far.
Miz is shattering basically every velocity record we have. But if anyone has the juice to catch up to his heat, it’s Caminero. And whether baseball’s fastest swings connect with baseball’s fastest fastballs could decide the first game of the World Series.
Read more about Misiorowski vs. Caminero here >>
THEY SCOUTED 1 STAR. THEY FOUND ANOTHER
We’ve already covered two of the Rays’ “Big Three” hitters in this newsletter this week: Caminero and his fast bat, and Yandy Díaz and his complete refusal to use even a single ABS challenge all year.
Now here’s a story about No. 3: Jonathan Aranda.
It’s a pretty cool story how the Rays found one of the most important players on their World Series-bound team. Adam Berry recounts how Tampa Bay discovered Aranda completely by accident.
The Rays never even meant to scout Aranda. They were actually trying to scout Randy Arozarena … and instead, Aranda fell into their laps.
It all traces back to a fateful day in Tijuana, Mexico, in 2015, when Arozarena no-showed a workout. One of the players the Rays saw instead was Aranda.
He was 17 years old, and he signed with the Rays that July. Eleven years later, he’s going to play his first World Series game for them.
And while Arozarena did eventually find his way to Tampa Bay, where he became a star for their last World Series-bound team in 2020, Aranda has now outlasted Randy with the franchise. And maybe he can help bring the Rays their first championship.
Read the whole story on Aranda’s journey here >>
BIGGEST UPCOMING CONTRACT DECISIONS
Before we get wrapped up in the World Series action, we want to take a quick look ahead to hot stove season. Because as soon as the World Series ends, there are a bunch of star players who have big contract decisions coming up.
Mark Feinsand recently took a look at those decisions and how they could shape the direction of the offseason.
A few of the biggest names to keep an eye on:
Mets infielder Bo Bichette
Within five days of the Fall Classic ending, Bichette must decide whether to opt out of the remaining two years and $84 million of his contract. It seems like a no-brainer to stay with the Mets … or is it?
Padres right-hander Michael King
King has a $28 million player option for 2027 (and then another one at $30 million for 2028). But he just beefed up his free-agent résumé with an excellent postseason — King was great against the Brewers in the NLDS even though the Padres lost. So he might be willing to test the market.
Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen
Rasmussen might be a World Series champion in a week or so. He’s been the ace the Rays have needed all postseason. But after this run is over, Tampa Bay will have to decide whether to pick up its $20 million club option on Rasmussen. We’ll see if the Fall Classic swings that decision one way or the other.
See the full list of six players here >>
3 NPB STARS THAT COULD FOLLOW SATO
The biggest bat in Japan, Teruaki Sato, is coming to the Major Leagues next season. But there are more stars in Nippon Professional Baseball who could follow him.
Michael Clair broke down a trio of pitchers you should watch out for, and their potential fits with various MLB clubs:
Kaima Taira
The 26-year-old right-hander stands only 5-foot-8, but he has a powerful mid-90s fastball and a bunch of great secondaries, including a splitter, of course.
Hiromi Itoh
A 28-year-old right-hander who won the Sawamura Award last year (Japan’s version of the Cy Young) but had a rocky World Baseball Classic, Itoh might want to test out his deep pitch mix in the Majors.
Kona Takahashi
Takahashi was posted last winter but chose to remain in Japan. Now the 29-year-old right-hander is a free agent who’s free to sign with any MLB team if that’s the path he chooses.
Read more on the Japanese pitching trio here >>
THESE WS REPORTERS MIGHT LOOK FAMILIAR
MLB just announced a trio of 2026 World Series player correspondents: Payton Tolle, Miguel Rojas and Ernie Clement.
Tolle, the gregarious Red Sox lefty, will be the correspondent for Media Day and Game 1 of the World Series in Milwaukee and will offer up a player’s perspective on the Rays-Brewers matchup.
Rojas, one of last year’s World Series Game 7 heroes for the Dodgers who just announced his retirement after 13 seasons, is going to work with MLB Español to provide Spanish-language coverage of the Fall Classic.
And Clement, who was a breakout star for the Blue Jays on their pennant run in 2025, will be a correspondent for Games 3 and 4 when the World Series moves to Tampa Bay, where he has plenty of experience as a player in the AL East.
This year’s World Series will also showcase a past player correspondent: Rays star Junior Caminero was one of the correspondents last year.
© 2026 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.
Please review our Privacy Policy.
You (peterhovis@icloud.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com.
Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.
Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
