Rasmussen vs. Misiorowski: World Series Game 1 Starters Set as Rays and Brewers Open Friday in Milwaukee

When Previously published its World Series preview on Tuesday morning, one honest line sat in the middle of it: neither club had announced its rotation. That is no longer true. The Game 1 matchup is set, and it could hardly be scripted better — Drew Rasmussen, drafted and developed by Milwaukee, starts for the Tampa Bay Rays against Jacob Misiorowski, the hardest thrower in baseball, when the World Series opens Friday, October 23 at 8:08 p.m. ET on FOX at American Family Field, according to Sports World News. Pitcher List lists the same pairing in its championship-series wrap: Rasmussen at Misiorowski, Friday at 8:08 p.m. ET on Fox.

Start with what is at stake, because it frames everything else. This is the first World Series since 1980 in which both teams are seeking their first title, according to the Associated Press reporting cited by Sports World News. Milwaukee’s only previous appearance came in 1982, when the Brewers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. Tampa Bay is here for the third time, after losing in 2008 and 2020, and is still looking for its first championship. When this series ends, one of those waits ends with it.

Why Milwaukee starts at home

The Brewers earned the right to open at home the long way: over 162 games. Milwaukee won a franchise-record 103 games, the best record in Major League Baseball for the second straight year, according to Sports World News, and holds home-field advantage over Tampa Bay’s 98 wins. Games 1 and 2 are in Milwaukee, the series shifts to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg for Games 3, 4 and 5 if needed, and Games 6 and 7 would return to American Family Field. For the full story of Milwaukee’s season, see Previously’s account of the Brewers’ road to the World Series.

The Game 1 matchup: the ex-Brewer against the flamethrower

Rasmussen’s assignment comes with a history lesson attached. He was drafted and developed by Milwaukee and traded to Tampa Bay after the 2021 season in the deal that brought shortstop Willy Adames to the Brewers, per Sports World News and reporting syndicated by Yardbarker from Fastball on SI. Adames gave Milwaukee 14.0 bWAR, so the Brewers can hardly call the trade a mistake — but there is an unmistakable October irony in Rasmussen, carrying a 1.29 ERA through three postseason starts, walking into American Family Field to start Game 1 of a World Series against the club that developed him. Sports World News notes he is expected to pitch on four days’ rest after starting ALCS Game 5, while Misiorowski, who pitched only in NLCS Game 1 on October 11, carries 11 full days between appearances into Friday.

Across from him is the most electric arm in the sport. Misiorowski throws the fastest fastball in baseball — 105 mph at its peak — and is the expected National League Cy Young winner, according to the reporting assembled by Sports World News and Yardbarker. Yardbarker calls him appointment television every time he takes the mound. The Brewers are asking a pitcher on an unusually long layoff to be sharp immediately, in the biggest start of his life. Rasmussen is asking his command to travel. Something has to give.

The at-bat everybody is waiting for: Misiorowski vs. Caminero

Every World Series has one confrontation that sells the whole series, and this one is obvious: Misiorowski against Junior Caminero. It is, quite literally, extremes meeting extremes — the fastest pitcher in velocity against the fastest bat speed in baseball. Caminero’s bat speed measured 79.4 mph, and he backed it up with 42 home runs and 101 RBIs in the regular season. Pitcher List’s Game 6 account shows what that swing can do in October: Caminero’s two-run home run in the seventh inning of the ALCS clincher pushed Tampa Bay’s lead to 5-1 against Cleveland closer Cade Smith. One mistake at 105 mph can still leave the yard at Caminero speed. If Misiorowski challenges him and wins, Milwaukee’s whole plan breathes. If Caminero connects once, early, the building will feel it.

Game 2: Peralta comes home, in the other uniform

If Game 1 is about an ex-Brewer, Game 2 is about a bigger one. Freddy Peralta is projected to start Game 2 for Tampa Bay against Milwaukee’s Logan Henderson, per Yahoo Sports via Sports World News. Peralta was just named ALCS MVP after winning Games 2 and 6 against Cleveland, adding a key relief appearance in Game 4, and allowing one earned run in 12 innings against the Guardians, per Sports World News and Pitcher List. Pitcher List put his series line at 12 total innings across three appearances with a 0.75 ERA.

And here is the twist that makes Milwaukee fans wince: Peralta spent his first eight MLB seasons with the Brewers before going to the Mets after the 2025 season and then on to Tampa Bay, according to Sports World News. Sports Illustrated’s Brewers coverage has been tracing exactly this thread — the Peralta and Rasmussen trades leading straight into this World Series. Peralta told reporters he looked forward to returning to Milwaukee, though he was unsure of his reception, per reporting cited by Sports World News. He is about to find out, on the mound, in Game 2 of the World Series.

How they got here

Neither team backed in. Tampa Bay swept the New York Yankees in the Division Series, then beat Cleveland 7-3 in ALCS Game 6 on Monday night to win that series 4-2, closing it with three straight wins after falling behind 2-1, according to Sports World News and Pitcher List. Richie Palacios’ two-run double staked the early lead in the clincher, Caminero and Yandy Díaz added two-run homers, and Bryan Baker closed it out. Previously told that story in full in the Rays’ road to the World Series.

Milwaukee’s route was somehow cleaner: the Brewers swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS despite being outspent roughly 3-to-1 on payroll, per Yardbarker. Yardbarker’s numbers put the two pennant winners’ payrolls at $154.7 million and $112.9 million per Cot’s Contracts — frugal rosters that led their leagues in wins anyway. It is worth pausing on that: the two best teams in baseball, by record, are two of its most careful spenders, and one of them is about to win the whole thing.

The expectation: Milwaukee favored, and a long series

Forecasts make Milwaukee comfortable favorites at around -160, with a long series expected — the kind of pricing that respects Tampa Bay’s rotation while siding with the 103-win team holding home field. That feels right from here. The Rays have the two most poetic arms in the series, and poetry does not win Game 1s; execution does. Milwaukee has been the best team in baseball for two straight regular seasons, and now it finally gets to prove the October version of that sentence. First pitch is Friday at 8:08 p.m. ET. Somebody’s first championship starts being real in about three days.