Every year, or at least every year since 2012, we’ve taken some time after the season was over to look at the past 162 games through the lens of the players that played them (and the management that was in charge of them). Last year, the Exit Interview series spent less time digging into splits and finding numerical oddities and more time reflecting on the player and their season. It was a style that seemed to work so we’re going to bring it back again this year. The legendary cardinalsgifs is back to bring us excellent series art, so it’s all downhill after you see that!
Player: Miles Mikolas
Stats: 10-11, 32 G, 171.2 IP, 194 H, 26 HR, 25 BB, 122 K, 5.35 ERA, 4.24 FIP, 1.276 WHIP, -0.2 bWAR
Statcast: 8.1% barrel, 38.1% sweet spot, 113.0 max exit velocity, .339 wOBA, .333 xwOBA, 16.9 K%, 3.5 BB%
Grade: D
Finding silver linings in the 2024 season of Miles Mikolas is not the easiest thing. You could look at his FIP, which was in line with four of his St. Louis seasons. You could note that he walked fewer on a rate basis than he did in ’23, which was a low number in and of itself. He, um, well, he didn’t league the league again in hits allowed or earned runs allowed! I mean, the fact he threw 30 fewer innings probably played into that but we’re taking what we can get folks. He was also fairly adept at a comedy interview but and nobody pulled off the mustache quite like he did.
Otherwise, it wasn’t good. Mikolas is always going to turn out a good start or two, like the six scoreless innings he threw against Milwaukee in August. However, he allowed five or more runs 10 times, including a 10-run game against the Reds (in Busch, even). Even the games that turned out alright had a notable lack of excitement around them. The lack of strikeout power is only going to be more pronounced as time goes by and people aren’t going to walk as much when they know they can hit whatever you are offering. I’ve argued before that the Cards have twice given Mikolas extensions before they needed to and at the wrong time and I’ve never seen anything that has changed my mind.
What’s in store for 2025: Mikolas is under contract for one more year at $16 million. If the Cardinals could move him, they probably would. He has a no-trade clause but he might be able to waive it should a contender need a little pitching depth. My guess would be, though, that he’ll be in the rotation for 2025 and it seems unlikely, unless he truly tanks, that they would cut him mid-season given his history with the team. The ascendance of Chaim Bloom does mean we don’t have to worry about an extension, though.
