After adding a veteran arm to the rotation, we take a look at the impact of Miles Mikolas on the Washington Nationals' 2026 rotation.
At last, the Washington Nationals finally added an arm to its rotation on the same day that pitchers and catchers officially began workouts.
News broke on Wednesday that the team agreed to a deal with right handed pitcher Miles Mikolas to a one year deal worth $2.25 million, giving the Nationals experience at a position of need.
While Mikolas joins looking to find consistency after struggling in his final two seasons of an eight-year stint with the St. Louis Cardinals, he adds much-needed veteran experience to a rotation featuring four primary players all 28 years old or younger. Mikolas now projects in the starting rotation behind Cade Cavalli as the ace and alongside Jake Irvin, Josiah Gray and Brad Lord.
Mikolas joins the organization coming his three worst seasons with the Cardinals since his first year with the organization in 2014, finishing with an ERA above 4.50 each year including 5.35 in 2024. He also gave up at least 25 home runs in each of his last four seasons.
It started well after the two-time All Star drew recognition after leading the National League with 18 wins and a 81.8% win rate in 2018, though he remains the active leader with 1.768 walks per nine innings through his career. Fast forward to 2026, Mikolas is coming off an 8-11 season with a 4.84 ERA across 31 starts with the Cardinals. He also finished with just a 14.9% strikeout rate and 2.7 strikeout-to-walk ratio, both his lowest since joining St. Louis in 2014.
While the move also led to the expected designation of DJ Herz on the 60-man injured list, joining Trevor Williams who was also an expected entry just days earlier, he adds a necessary innings eater to a rotation with questions.
Mikolas has made at least 31 starts each season since 2022, including an MLB-high 35 in 2023, while noting the second-most starts and fifth-most innings pitched over that span. He joins the Nationals with a chance to lead the team in innings pitched given he's thrown in at least 150 innings in six of his last seven seasons.
He also now heads to a park where he's found success in his career. In seven games and six starts at Nats Park, Mikolas has posted a 5-2 mark with a 2.79 ERA and 1.293 WHIP while allowing hitters to slash .294/.313/.405 with two home runs over 38.2 innings pitched.
Does Mikolas drastically elevate the Nationals' rotation outlook? No, but he does provide clarity as Cade Cavalli and Jake Irvin look to return to form. Foster Griffin, the first free agent signing of the Paul Toboni era, remains a viable candidate in the rotation while Andrew Alvarez and Mitchell Parker will both use spring training to carve out roles, but the signing provides clarity at a position of weakness ahead of of Opening Day. Coming off Tommy John surgery in July 2024, Josiah Gray will hope to be ready by Opening Day after undergoing surgery. While the fifth spot has a host of players in the mix, Mikolas adds veteran stability to the rotation with hopes of improving on baseball's worst pitching staff one season ago.