Player Watch: Miles Mikolas

Yes, I’m alive. Going to try to be more active as the season gets closer. One post a time though.

Anyways, one of the more interesting players in camp is Miles Mikolas. The Cards signed him to a 2 year/15.5 million dollar deal in the off-season.

Mikolas had a had a brief and uninteresting career in the big leagues before heading overseas to Japan, where he had success. That success is what prompted the Cards to sign him.

Personally, regardless of production, I like the deal. Compared, to say, a money sinkhole that a deal for a Jake Arrieta deal would be, 2 years at 15.5 million is very affordable, and if he washes out, it’s not as big of a blow as Arrieta struggling would be. The Cards have learned from the Mike Leake fiasco and are managing their money much more wisely.

Mikolas started on Sunday and got hammered to the tune of 6 runs on 7 hits in 1.2 innings.

My thoughts on that are:

It’s one start, and a super small sample size at that. Don’t burn the man at the stake until he has a much larger sample size to look at, which may not be until the regular season. Spring training starts, even good ones, are usually pretty short, as everyone tries to get their work in.

Mikolas, with his guaranteed contract, isn’t competing for a job on the big league club, so he’s probably not throwing his best stuff, as he doesn’t have to. He’s just getting loose and ready for the upcoming season. No reason to risk injury before the season even starts.

The guy is transitioning back to the majors after 3 years in japan. Whether you think the competition over their is lesser equal, or even superior (which is a discussion for another time) it’s *different*. Getting used to being over here again, may take some time, and that length of time may well spill over into the regular season. Give the man time and space and let him breathe.

As I said, I like the deal, mainly for it’s short term commitment. I consider it smart.

As always, thanks for reading.

 

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