Miles

Mikolas

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.

The 25-year-old hurler has been dominant through his first four starts at Triple-A Rochester this season, posting a 2.45 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and a 27/8 K/BB ratio over 18 1/3 innings. He’s set to make his MLB debut on Friday against the White Sox in Chicago. Miles Mikolas had been scheduled to start on Friday, it’s unclear if he’s being pushed back or is being shifted to a long relief role. Cornelio makes for a strong streaming option in deeper mixed leagues for Friday’s debut.

Mikolas struck out four batters on the afternoon while issuing one walk. He came on as a bulk reliever after PJ Poulin opened for the Nationals. He escaped a two-on, two-out jam in his opening inning and went on to spin several scoreless frames of his own before turning the ball over to the bullpen. He got nine whiffs on just 61 pitches on the day, posting a solid CSW of 30 percent. Given the success as a bulk reliever, perhaps this is how he’ll be deployed next time out on Friday against the White Sox in Chicago. He should still be nowhere near fantasy lineups.

Mikolas might have a shot at 20 losses this year, but it involves him pitching considerably better than this. He has an 11.49 ERA and an 11/9 K/BB over 15 2/3 innings after four outings. The Nationals aren’t expecting much other than innings from him, but since he’s not even providing many of those, he might find himself out of work before long. Mitchell Parker, who got the win tonight after striking out five in two scoreless innings, would be one possibility to replace him. Mikolas is scheduled to pitch again Sunday versus the Giants.

Mikolas has been atrocious in his three outings with the Nationals, and Washington will hope that working in bulk will lead to better results. They almost literally can’t get worse. PJ Poulin will open ahead of Mikolas on Tuesday.

Mikolas doesn’t have much to lean on at this point in his career. He’s not missing many bats, doesn’t have great command, and doesn’t have an out-pitch he can go to in a pinch. After another poor start, he has a 12.41 ERA through three starts which have spanned 12 1/3 innings to go with an 11/7 K/BB ratio. There’s no fantasy league where he should be relied upon in any way. His next start will come against the Pirates in Pittsburgh.

He allowed a mere four homers, though Max Muncy just missed adding a fifth to the ledger right before Mikolas was mercifully pulled. This certainly isn’t what Mikolas offers every start, but it was always in the realm of possibility for one of the weakest starters in baseball against the consensus best lineup. Mikolas will remain a stay-away in fantasy leagues going forward even against more pedestrian lineups -- he simply coughs up too many homers and too much hard contact to be trusted.

The Nationals had originally listed this as a bullpen game with a potential opener. Instead, it will be Mikolas on Friday, Jake Irvin on Saturday, and Foster Griffin on Sunday. None are recommended starts against the Dodgers.

Mikolas gave up just one homer today after allowing nine — yes, nine! — in his two starts at Wrigley Field while with the Cardinals last year. So, that’s something of a victory. Even if he’s not totally dreadful, Mikolas could well wind up leading the league in losses this year while pitching for the Nationals. He’s there to provide quantity. Quality would be a bonus.