Miles

Mikolas

It’s the third time in his eight bulk appearances that Mikolas has gone without allowing a run. He entered the season looking like the best 20-loss candidate in many years and then dropped each of his first three starts, amassing a 12.41 ERA in the process. However, since becoming primarily a bulk guy, he’s 1-2 with a 4.28 ERA in 48 1/3 innings over 11 appearances. He’s due to next pitch against the Mariners on Sunday.

Richard Lovelady will serve as Washington’s opener. Mikolas was tagged for six runs over six innings by the Marlins his last time out. The 37-year-old veteran holds a cringe-inducing 6.39 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 36/16 K/BB ratio across 56 1/3 innings this season. He’s not a recommended streaming option.

Mikolas gave up six hits, walked two and struck out four. He fell to 1-5 with the loss. Mikolas entered a scoreless game in the third inning as the bulk pitcher. The game remained scoreless until the fifth inning, when Mikolas allowed three home runs and the Marlins took a 4-0 lead. Mikolas has a 6.39 ERA. He’s lined up to pitch against the Giants on the road next week.

The shorter outing allowed Mikolas to throw a little harder today, as he averaged a season-high 93.9 mph with his fastball. The runs all came in his final inning of work, which started with a Curtis Mead error. Richard Lovelady replaced him with one out and one run in and then allowed an inherited runner to score. Mikolas took the loss despite not allowing an earned run and is now 1-4 with a 5.72 ERA. He’ll probably next pitch Tuesday against the Marlins.

Mikolas genuinely pitched well here. He kept the ball down, consistently got ahead in the count, and worked mostly quick and painless innings against this tough Braves lineup. It’s always dangerous playing this game, but if we took out Mikolas’ 11-run blow-up against the Dodgers in early April, he’d have a 3.99 ERA. That’s a lot different than the 6.17 ERA he currently has. That start against the Dodgers is also the only time he’s allowed more than four earned runs in any start this year. Again, that’s not the best way to approach this, but his command has been good and has a deep enough repertoire to be moderately effective… sometimes. Just be ready for the next blow-up that’s lurking around the corner

The veteran right-hander punched out four batters in the contest while allowing just one base on balls. Most of the damage done against him came via the long ball as Coby Mayo took him deep in the second inning and Colton Cowser got him for a two-run blast in the fourth. Mikolas got five swings and misses on 93 pitches in the ballgame, posting an underwhelming CSW of 23 percent. He’ll try to improve upon a disappointing 6.91 ERA and 1.49 WHIP when he takes on the Braves in Atlanta on Friday.

Mikolas gave up three hits, walked two and struck out two. The 37-year-old right-hander tossed three scoreless innings before getting into trouble in the fourth inning. Mikolas allowed two hits and a walk before an RBI groundout. Then he walked the next batter before he was pulled from the ballgame. One more run scored on a Brady House fielding error, but Mikolas was off the hook. He has a 7.00 ERA on the season. Mikolas is lined up to face the Orioles at home on Sunday.

It’s almost shocking to see Mikolas wind up with such a clean final line. He pulled it off though! His often good location was great here, especially with his sinker and slider against the Twins’ right-handed batters. While encouraging, definitely don’t get used to this. He’ll take a still unsightly 7.11 ERA into a two-start week against the Reds – in Cincinnati – and Orioles.

Mikolas struck out three and walked one, raising his ERA to 8.23 on the season. He entered Thursday having thrown six different pitches at least nine percent of the time, and all six had negative run values. While things have somewhat improved since an 11-run blowup against the Dodgers in his second start of the year, Mikolas is far removed from the fantasy radar. His next appearance should come at home against the Twins.

This game featured the ever-elusive double-opener as both the Nationals and White Sox made a pitching change before the second inning was over. For Mikolas, he struggled to miss bats or limit hard contact. That’s been his story going on a few years now and will take an ugly 8.49 ERA into his next outing against the Mets.