Cardinals' Mikolas to undergo season-ending elbow surgery
St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas will undergo throwing-elbow surgery and miss the remainder of the 2020 season, the team's president of baseball operations John Mozeliak announced Tuesday, according to Chris Hrabe of KMOX.
The Cardinals placed Mikolas on the 10-day injured list earlier Tuesday.
Mikolas underwent an MRI on Monday that revealed the extent of the forearm injury. While his flexor tendon needs repair, his ulnar collateral ligament - which, if torn, often leads to Tommy John surgery - was found to be intact. He'll only need about four months of rehab, according to Mark Saxon of The Athletic.
Mikolas, who was scheduled to make his first start of the 2020 campaign on Wednesday, first felt the forearm issue during spring training, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The pandemic stoppage gave him extra time to rest his arm.
He pitched four innings in an exhibition game against the Kansas City Royals last week, but the hurler experienced declining velocity during that outing.
The 31-year-old joined the Cardinals in 2018 after revitalizing his career in Japan. He immediately became an All-Star while leading NL pitchers in wins (18) and walks per nine innings (1.3). But he took a step back last year, posting an NL-high 14 losses along with a 4.16 ERA and 1.22 WHIP.
Mikolas is in the first season of a four-year, $68-million extension he signed with St. Louis in February 2019.
The Cardinals announced Daniel Ponce de Leon will make Mikolas' scheduled start on Wednesday, according to Brenden Schaeffe of KMOV.