Breakout pitchers in fantasy baseball often get a tremendous amount of hype, especially when you have a flamethrower for an arm like Jacob Misiorowksi of the Milwaukee Brewers. Savvy managers were able to identify skills growth and improvement before the rest of their fantasy baseball league caught up and were able to grab pitchers like Misiorowski at the right time in drafts.
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Everyone has heard about Misiorowski’s breakout by now. He has matured into an elite ace so far in 2026 and is consistently throwing 101 miles per hour every start. But through 11 starts in 2026, the OTHER clear early breakout candidate in Milwaukee is Kyle Harrison, who has been just as dominant. But has just been under the radar.
(Author’s note: This was largely written before Kyle Harrison gave up eight runs in 2.1 innings to the Athletics in Sacramento on Monday. Should we give Harrison a significant bump down because of this outlier start in a minor league ballpark? No, I don’t think so.)
The Other Brewers Breakout Ace of 2026
Harrison is in his age-24 season, a time when a lot of pitchers just start to reach the early years of their prime. Harrison is probably not done growing and maturing and will evolve in the years ahead. He’s already a fixture in the Angels’ rotation with eleven starts after coming over from the Giants last year. He is no longer a prospect, and he is in search of his first season with more than 24 starts. Despite not even being in our pitcher ranks (top 125) coming into the season, Harrison could easily finish in the top 30 this year among pitchers.
Let’s dive deeper into why Kyle Harrison is just as much of an ace right now in fantasy baseball as his headline-grabbing teammate.
Kyle Harrison’s First 11 Starts Were Very Impressive
The most immediate reason to believe in Harrison’s breakout is what he has already shown in his first eleven starts of the 2026 season (before Monday). In his four most recent starts before that game, Harrison completely dominated the Giants, Cardinals, Cubs, and Padres, tossing at least five innings each game and only allowing one total earned run in that span.
He is having a bit of a problem with keeping the ball down off the bat (only a 32% ground ball rate), but still looked fully in control against different lineups featuring elite hitters. The fact that he has not allowed more than two earned runs in any start before Monday night speaks to his enviable consistency.
Harrison has a 2.72 ERA this season after Monday’s disaster and is striking out over 11 batters per nine innings. It is quite the turnaround for a pitcher who posted a 4.56 ERA and just 8.5 strikeouts per nine in 2024. What is behind the success so far? What’s driving the ERA to drop by more than half? Let’s look more at his pitching profile.
Harrison’s Pitch Mix is Leaving Hitters Fooled
Kyle Harrison is nowhere close to being a one-dimensional or one-pitch, or even two-pitch pitcher. He brings a deep arsenal, including three strong pitches that he throws over regularly. That kind of diversity keeps hitters guessing, and a four-seam fastball that comes off the arm at 95 miles per hour is devastating.
He has also added some more velocity to his fastball. Last season, his four-seamer sat at just 94.6 miles per hour, and in 2024 it was 92.5 mph. So far in 2026, that pitch is up to 95.1 mph, and overall, he has a whiff rate of over 14%. The fastball remains his bread and butter, bucking the trend of many modern pitchers.
But Harrison’s fastball is electric and complements his other pitches. Add all of the pitches up, and he is able to keep hitters fooled as to what is coming. He has a 66.8% first-pitch strike rate, and his contact rate has dropped four percentage points since last season.
Weak Contact Can Cover For Any Mistakes
What can Harrison do during a start where things like his fastball and swing and miss ability aren’t working? He can rely on the weak contact he creates to get out of jams. This season, his hard-hit rate is only 28.5%, a full 11.5 percentage points below his career average.
After debuting with a 38.1% hard hit rate in 2023, Harrison increased that number to 44.1% in 2024 and 42.7% in 2025. Now, he has learned to miss bats and force weak contact when batters do get the wood on it.
In the month of June, Harrison’s hard contact was 22.2%. Again, some home runs in a minor league park shouldn’t impact that perception. In fact, he was at 28.8% for the entire month of May. Add in all those strikeouts he piles up (he struck out 4 in 2.1 innings Monday), and this skillset looks phenomenal through eleven turns.
Harrison Was Projected to Be Average, But He Could Be Great
Add up all the attributes from above, and we have an underrated ace to start the season. He remains slightly under the radar because of some missed time, and Monday’s outing will only depress his market value. However, before Monday night, the similarities between Misiorowski and Harrison were striking.
Milwaukee Brewers pitchers through June 7:
Jacob Misiorowski: 78 IP, 13.38 K/9, 2.54 BB/9, 0.46 HR/9, 1.50 ERA, 2.23 xERA
Kyle Harrison: 57.1 IP, 11.46 K/9, 2.51 BB/9, 0.63 HR/9, 1.57 ERA, 3.07 xERA
Projection systems are mixed on Harrison the rest of the way, but they all show one thing. Each of them believes Harrison will keep his strong walk rate and that he will strike out about 10 batters per nine innings.
Some project his ERA at 3.50, while others are over 4.00. That might not immediately strike you as “ace” material, but for fantasy purposes, that level of production, especially that he was universally drafted very late, can easily return top-30 starting pitcher value. If Harrison’s projected command and strikeout gains and whiff rates are real, he could outperform those forecasts by a huge margin.
Through eleven starts, it all seems to be working for him despite what happened on Monday night. I’m here to tell you that not only can this continue, but there is a chance it could get even better. Kyle Harrison is the OTHER Brewers’ breakout pitcher of 2026, and he STILL isn’t rostered in 100% of Fantrax leagues. Somehow, he is at 92%, so check your waiver wire to make sure this league-winner isn’t sitting out there.
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