ST. LOUIS -- On the heels of two poor seasons where he was so often victimized by grooving far too many two-strike pitches, Cardinals right-hander Miles Mikolas said the breaking point for him came on April 12 when he got ahead of Phillies slugger Nick Castellanos, appeared on the verge of getting out of the inning unscathed … and promptly grooved a two-strike pitch. “That Philly game, I threw a [two-strike] fastball down the middle to Castellanos and he hit a double and I was like, ‘FUDGE!’” Mikolas said, rolling his eyes to clearly indicate that it wasn’t “fudge” that he disgustingly uttered. “That was one of those moments where I was coming into the dugout and I said, ‘That’s it! I’d rather throw the ball over the backstop with two strikes than down the middle.' That was like the immediate rock bottom after [a poor start in] Boston [on April 6]. To give an 0-2 fastball down the middle to a guy who literally hits fastballs well, I was like, ‘What am I thinking? What am I doing? You’ve got to adjust.’” Did the 36-year-old Mikolas ever adjust? Somehow Mikolas has been able to put skyrocketing ERAs of 5.35 (2024) and 4.78 ('23) -- and this season’s poor start -- behind him to become one of the unlikeliest heroes of the Cardinals’ 29-23 run. When Mikolas systematically mowed down the D-backs on Friday night and limited them to one run on four hits and one walk over six innings, it pushed his record to 4-0 with a 1.33 ERA over his past six starts. Whereas the Cardinals lost his first five starts of 2025, they have since won his last five starts. Take away Mikolas’ poor outing in Boston (2 2/3 innings and eight earned runs) and he’d be 4-1 with a 2.22 ERA for the season. |
An extremely prideful pitcher wanting to get back to the All-Star levels that he reached in 2018 and ‘22, Mikolas said he never doubted he could become an effective stopper again for the Cards -- even though the past two seasons certainly tested his mental fortitude. “I made a joke to Lars [Nootbaar] the other day that the more success you have, the harder it makes you want to work because there is positive reinforcement there,” said Mikolas, one of the Cardinals’ most dedicated workers in the weight room between starts. “The better I keep doing, the harder I keep working, so hopefully it just snowballs, and I keep doing great.” Look inside Mikolas’ pitch profile and the improvements are rather distinct. Foes are hitting just .077 off his curveball this season -- a pitch that they batted .282 against last season. Similarly, he’s limiting foes to .219 off his slider this season as opposed to .301 a year ago. He’s throwing more curveballs (15.9% compared to 11.7%) and fewer sinkers (15.5% compared to 23%), but the key factor is that he is keeping those pitches off the plate. “Location, location, location,” he joked. This might sound counterintuitive for a pitcher, but Mikolas’ walk rate is at a career-worst 7.5% in 2025 -- and it’s one of the best things that has ever happened to him. Because he rarely ever walked hitters in the past, they came to the plate ready to swing and feasted on strikes in the middle of the plate. |
Where Mikolas was typically hurt the most in the past was after he would get to two strikes and then would stubbornly still groove pitches. Over the previous two seasons, Mikolas surrendered 18 homers with two strikes in the count (10 in 2024 and eight in '23). This season: He’s given up just two two-strike homers. How much did that two-strike issue bother him all the time? An avid saltwater and freshwater fisherman, the Florida born-and-bred Mikolas bought a boat over the offseason and contemplated naming it “Too Many Strikes.” Instead of giving the sleek, light blue boat a name that would simply irk him, Mikolas settled on “Innings Eater” as the name. It was a nod to the workhorse’s 109 starts and 626 2/3 innings over the last four seasons without an injury. Another adjustment made to help Mikolas is limiting the times he goes through a lineup. Because Mikolas struggled in recent years upon facing middle-of-the-order hitters a third time, manager Oliver Marmol has often had a quick hook with the “Innings Eater” -- something that’s taken some getting used to for the pitcher. “We’ve had conversations around it, but I don’t want any pitcher to like [being pulled out of games early] because they’re competitive and you want them to want that next inning,” Marmol said of Mikolas. “Strategically, it just makes sense. But it’s hard because he’s usually in the fifth [inning] with just 50 pitches.” |
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HEALTHY COMPETITION MOTIVATES PITCHING STAFF |
Competition has seemingly brought out the best from a Cardinals starting staff that has been a driving force behind the club winning 15 of 19 through Saturday. In May alone, Mikolas (3-0, 2.01 ERA), Erick Fedde (2-0, 2.55 ERA), Steven Matz (2.57 ERA), Matthew Liberatore (2.22 ERA), Sonny Gray (2-1, 4.71) and Andre Pallante (2-1, 4.64 ERA) have been pitching pillars for the Redbirds. Entering Sunday, the team’s overall ERA in May was 3.24, good for seventh in MLB. As for the season, the Cardinals’ starting staff ranks ninth in MLB in ERA (3.55) and tied for fourth in innings pitched (289). That has been a product, Fedde said, of the staff helping one another between starts and driving one another to try and maintain a high standard from start to start. “It’s such a stats-driven game, so we all love comparing our numbers,” said Fedde, who threw the first shutout of his career at Nationals Park on May 9. “When you pitch well, then you get to sit there on the bench and brag for the next couple of days. You don’t want to listen to someone after you’ve had a bad outing, so you’ve got to do your best so you can talk your talk on the bench to the rest of the guys.” |
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