A seasoned veteran joins a staff of kids

37-year-old Miles Mikolas arrived at Nats camp today and spoke about both teaching and learning from his new young teammates

Photo by Saúl Martinez / NATS INSIDER

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – As he emerged onto the practice fields here this morning, Miles Mikolas stood out from the rest of the Nationals pitching staff. Not because of the mustache, as distinctive as his is. But because among a sea of 20-somethings still trying to establish themselves as big leaguers, here was a 37-year-old with two All-Star selections, four postseason outings and 13 Cy Young Award votes to his name.

None of Mikolas’ new teammates can come close to matching that resume at this point.

“It’s definitely a little bit different, but that’s another one of the things that’s kind of exciting,” he said of joining such a young and inexperienced staff. “The way the game is changing so much, I think I have a lot to learn from some of the young guys, probably, and I hope that I’ll be able to share some of the stuff that I’ve learned over my career with them.”

That’s exactly what the Nationals were hoping when they signed Mikolas to a one-year, $2.25 million (plus incentives) deal Wednesday evening. They know he’s no longer an All-Star, and they know what’s reasonable to expect from him given the bargain price. But for a team sorely lacking in veterans, the right-hander fills a particular void that needed to be filled.

“I think you want to have folks in the clubhouse that have been on teams that have been winners and gone deep, and Miles is one of those guys,” said president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, who at 35 is younger than the pitcher he just signed. “He’s played around a lot of really good players, been in the big leagues for a long period of time. So I think that experience can just really benefit our younger guys.”

A native of nearby Jupiter who had been with the Cardinals since 2018, Mikolas admits the Nationals were high on his list of potential suitors when he became a free agent this winter for the first time in eight years. He grew a bit anxious waiting around at home for the call to come after camps had already opened across Florida and Arizona, but he kept himself ready and should be able to step right in with his new club and not need much time to get caught up.

“I’m not gonna lie, that is appealing,” he said of the proximity factor. “Being local, being able to stay local, that’s definitely important for me and my family. I’ve got four kids, and shipping them all over the country isn’t always easy, so this is a good fit for that as well.”

Mikolas admittedly hasn’t been the best version of himself in a while. After going 41-31 with a 3.46 ERA and 1.113 WHIP with the Cardinals from 2018-22, he regressed to 27-35 with a 4.98 ERA and 1.304 WHIP the last three seasons. The main difference: More hits allowed overall, specifically more home runs.

As a “pitch-to-contact” guy whose fastball averages only 93 mph, he knows he needs to keep the ball down in the zone and get hitters to reach to avoid real damage. He believes he can get back on the right track with help from a Nationals coaching staff that is trying to identify some tweaks that could help him.

“I’m going to throw a lot of strikes; hit it or don’t. Sometimes that might not work out for me,” he said. “So I think there’s a lot of room for improvement as far as maybe figuring out how to get guys to chase a little more. I’m pretty good at getting to two strikes, but putting guys away the last couple years is something I definitely can work on. I think this is a place I can work on that and I can get better.”

During a Zoom call with Mikolas in recent days, Nats manager Blake Butera and his pitching coaches were impressed by his eagerness to adapt at this late stage of his career.

“He’s still extremely motivated and thinks there’s still another gear he can get to, even though he’s 37 years of age, which is pretty cool to hear,” said Butera, who at 33 is four years younger than his new pitcher. “There’s definitely motivation to continue to get better.”

If nothing else, Mikolas hopes to reap the benefits of pitching regularly in D.C., a location that has brought out the best in him over the years. In six starts at Nationals Park with the Cardinals, he went 5-1 with a 2.35 ERA. He also dominated the Nats, regardless of location, the last four seasons, going 4-1 with a 1.79 ERA and 0.942 WHIP. (Insert joke here about the state of the lineup he faced during that time.)

Mikolas has made 213 career major-league starts, a number that might be even higher if not for the three years he spent in Japan before returning to sign with the Cardinals. The six other potential members of the Nationals’ Opening Day rotation (Cade Cavalli, Jake Irvin, Brad Lord, Foster Griffin, Josiah Gray, Mitchell Parker) have made 252 MLB starts combined.

There’s no question who the veteran of this group will be. And yet, Mikolas seems to be suggesting the passing along of knowledge won’t be a one-way street. He wants to learn as much from these new young teammates as they learn from him.

“It’s pretty cool to hear him say that,” Butera said. “I think somebody who has done what he’s done can easily come in here and say he’s going to be the one teaching everybody. But the fact that one of the first things he said was he’s excited to learn from the younger group kind of shows the character and the person we’re bringing into the clubhouse here.”