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“He got that opportunity to start in front of 40,000, and he just
excelled,” Slater says. “He needed that. If he’d stayed with Texas (in
2015), he was never going to get that in front of 2,000 at Round
Rock (the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate), then up to Texas and then
back to Round Rock. When he had that chance to be the guy in
front of 40,000 people, I think that helped him hone his command.”
Mikolas’ 13-3 record and 1.92 ERA won over the Giants, who
worked out a deal for two more years at a reported $5 million. While
the goal was to return to the major leagues, Mikolas’ agency had told
the newlywed couple it might take more than just one good season
overseas for MLB teams to buy in.
By the time the 2017-18 hot stove was boiling, Mikolas had
plenty of suitors back in the U.S. But the Cardinals had advantages:
longstanding interest, spring headquarters in the pitcher’s lifelong
Jupiter home, and an empathetic pitching coach – Maddux, who
had been hired about a month earlier. The Mikolas family found
themselves wearing Cardinal red in time for Christmas.
‘GROWING UP’ ... JUST A LITTLE
The swirl of questions that surrounded his signing have long
since faded. Mikolas is on pace this season to be the first Cardinal
since Bob Tewksbury in 1993 to average one walk or fewer per nine
innings. Of the first 313 batters Mikolas faced through 12 starts, he
went to a 3-0 count only four times. He led the league in first-pitch
strikes (71.9 percent).
That command paired with his ability to adapt – something he
demonstrated once more when he and Maddux returned to the
drawing board after a rocky start to spring training – are two key
indicators Mikolas can maintain success at the major league level.
That’s not welcome news for opposing hitters, who must feel
Mikolas is throwing everything at them, just short of the kitchen
sink. He relies on his four-seam fastball (95.2-mph average) just
under 30 percent of the time according to brooksbaseball.net,
and mixes his slider, sinker and curve on 18 to 23 percent of his
offerings.
With such a varied but even-weighted repertoire, opponents
will be hard-pressed to develop a “book” on Mikolas, making their
challenge of adjusting to his stuff more difficult.
“He’s a completely different pitcher now,” observes teammate
Jedd Gyorko, who roomed with Mikolas back in the Padres’ system.
“I never saw him start. He was more of a grab-the-ball-and-throw-
it-as-hard-as-you-can guy who would mix in a curveball. Now he’s
spotting up with four pitches. He’s just evolved as a pitcher.”
Mikolas has the enviable quality of being able to settle wherever
he goes, on or off the diamond. He’s a driven, serious competitor,
but he’s not the guy who goes about it with an unsmiling, grim
disposition. Before one of his starts, you might find him chilling with
a crossword puzzle, unflustered by gameday expectations. During
running drills, don’t be surprised if he gets up in a teammate’s grill,
challenging him to a race.
Heck, he’s not even above photo-bombing a stranger’s photo
opportunity, like the time he executed a full-out ballerina jump
behind an unsuspecting group posing on the field at Busch Stadium.
“I’m still very much a 12-year-old kid trapped in a man’s body,” he
confesses, “but for the most part, growing up a little bit.”
Besides his previous stint rooming with Gyorko and meeting Tyler
Lyons in the Arizona Fall League, Mikolas was largely unfamiliar
with his new teammates before joining the club. But his outgoing
personality, coupled with the relief of having teammates who speak
the same language, has made him more than a little sociable.
“Sometimes I have to apologize to my teammates,” he confesses.
“It was three years in Japan, and I could only really talk to a couple
of teammates. So now when I get a chance to talk, I’m a bit of a
chatty Cathy.”
He communicates best when he’s on the mound – there’s no
mystery in that.Stan McNeal is senior writer for Cardinals Magazine. Get more
inside access from Stan all season on Twitter @CardsMagazine and on
the Cardinals Insider television show.Mikolas sports the kind of personality that can adapt wherever he
goes; being able to speak English again with teammates doesn’t hurt.