Veteran Mikolas excited to lead (and learn from) young Nats staff

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The Nationals’ starting rotation was in need of veteran experience. Just down the road, a two-time All-Star was a free agent preparing for his 11th Major League season.

It was a fit for the Nats and right-hander Miles Mikolas, who signed a one-year contract on Wednesday. Early the following morning, he already was in Nationals gear, situated at his locker in his new clubhouse.

“It’s been pretty slow for a lot of the free agent pitchers out there,” Mikolas, 37, said. “[I was] kind of sitting around, waiting, letting my agent do his thing and find a good landing spot. This is one of the places I wanted to be. Everything worked out, and I’m here and I’m super happy.”

Mikolas brings 1,252 1/3 innings of big league experience to the Nats' rotation. In 213 career starts, he is 72-75 with a 4.24 ERA. He earned All-Star selections in 2018 and ’22, and he has appeared in two postseasons. Last season, his seventh with the Cardinals, Mikolas went 8-11 with a 4.84 ERA in 31 starts.

“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,” president of baseball operations Paul Toboni said. “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 really benefit our younger guys.”

There was a mutual appeal from Mikolas, who is excited to join a young staff. He has made more career starts than Jake Irvin, Cade Cavalli, Brad Lord, Mitchell Parker and Foster Griffin combined. Yet when asked what he hopes to learn from his younger teammates, Mikolas contemplated.

“I think the exciting part is, maybe I'm not sure because of the way the game has changed and what young guys are doing these days,” he said. “You see guys with incredible stuff, the way they spin the ball and their philosophies on how they're doing stuff and how they want to do things here. So I’m all open ears, open arms, trying to absorb whatever I can.”

That receptivity to continued knowledge growth and development after a decade in the Majors resonates with the Nationals as they begin a chapter with a new front office and coaching staff.

“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,” said manager Blake Butera. “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.”

Mikolas hopes that what he gains from the Nats will lead to a consistent season. Last season, his 5.5% walk rate ranked in the 89th percentile among MLB pitchers but his 14.9% strikeout rate ranked in the fourth percentile.

“I think a lot of it is further tapping into his strengths,” Toboni said. “One of the things that we like most about him is the mentality that he's just always on attack. He feels like it's a race to two strikes with him, which is something I think we want to hammer home with a lot of our pitchers. So I think it's just further leaning into that. Then once you get to two strikes, really doing a good job putting guys away, which maybe there are some things we can do here and there to hopefully help him in that regard.”

Although he is playing on a new team for the first time since 2018, Mikolas feels at home. A native of Jupiter, Fla., he still lives a short drive from the Nationals’ complex in West Palm Beach.

“I'm not gonna lie, that is appealing,” Mikolas said. “It’s a few exits down from Roger Dean [Chevrolet Stadium]. But 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.”