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NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS VS BRAVES

October 2, 2019

Miles Mikolas

Atlanta, Georgia - Workout Day

THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with Cardinals Game 1 starter Miles Mikolas.

Q. When you came back from Japan and picked this organization to sign with, were you envisioning a playoff berth and being a part of this team in the postseason?
MILES MIKOLAS: 100 percent. You come back, looking at all the teams that need pitching, everyone needs pitching, you look at who's competitive, who wants to win every year. That's the St. Louis Cardinals; we're trying to win every game every day of the year.

Q. Dexter Fowler was in here. He's from Atlanta and playing in his hometown. Can you describe Dexter's impact down the stretch here for St. Louis?
MILES MIKOLAS: Humongous. For him to kind of take over that lead-off role and put together six-, seven-, eight-pitch at-bats, to lead a game off, helping wear down those pitchers, let us get into the team's bullpen, he's been huge for our offense and our defense going forward this year.

Q. Before your first MLB playoff start here, what's the anticipation? Do you try to look at it as a regular season start? Obviously it's bigger, but how to you try to focus for this, your first time going through this?
MILES MIKOLAS: Just another day at the ballpark. Just another day at work. Maybe a little more stressful. Maybe a little louder. But starting from day one, you know, playing whiffle ball in the backyard, you're dreaming of that playoff atmosphere.

So it's something that me and a lot of players have probably been looking forward, working towards your whole life. I'm just ready to enjoy it -- enjoy it, soak it in and have a good time, have fun out there.

Q. Would you kind of agree that this Braves lineup -- I mean, there's still that thought in the NL when you get to seven, eight, nine, you get a little bit of a break -- doesn't seem that's the case with the Braves lineup, would you agree?
MILES MIKOLAS: It's a good roster. They've got a lot of good hitters. That being said, even the best hitters are very pitchable. You look at a guy, whoever leads the league in batting average is batting .350. So you can dig even deeper into his weighted, on-base percentages or contact or this or that, you break it down, the guy puts a bat -- anyone in the league puts a bat on the ball, it's a 60, 70 percent chance he's getting out.

So maybe that's the way as a pitcher you like to psych yourself out. But, I mean, let the guy put it in play, better chance he gets out than if I walk him. But, yes they do have a difficult lineup. I'm going to have to go out there and make pitches. They've got some phenomenal athletes and baseball players on their team, rookies, veterans alike. I think it's going to be a fun lineup to navigate my way through.

Q. They have a lot of home runs in their lineup. What's the challenge for a guy who's a strike thrower like yourself in this era of the home run, in terms of if you're around the plate, the dangers?
MILES MIKOLAS: I think the strategy is going to be pitching 101: Keep them off balance and keep the ball down. That's a recipe for success, any age, any time, any lineup. Mixing up the speeds and keep the ball down, keep them on their toes, keep them guessing, and let the defense work. Got a great defense, go and work.

Q. Speaking of defense, Kolten Wong says he's game-ready. When you're pitching, to know he's hopefully going to be back there, what does he bring to you guys, especially defensively?
MILES MIKOLAS: Anytime you've got a guy, Gold Glove-caliber defense, champing at the bit to get in there it makes you excited. Gold Glove, to me, at second base. A whole bunch of Gold Gloves over at first. The right-side of the infield is locked down pretty solid, followed up by, I don't know how many double plays they say we've turned in the infield. Paul turning those double plays, Carp and Tommy at third. And the outfield we've got. Great defense all around, and Wong just adds to that overall confidence.

Q. Miles, not only is it your first playoff start, it's the first playoff game for the entire team this year. How important is it for you to come out and set the tone right away what the series is going to be?
MILES MIKOLAS: It's very important. I want to come out there, you know, be aggressive, do what I do best, and going to go from there. We're going to have first couple hitters going to set the tone for our offense, and I'm going to set the tone for our pitching staff and our defense.

Q. You're a pretty loose guy. Why do you think your personality is perfect to be in the postseason?
MILES MIKOLAS: I think it's a good personality to have just because the postseason is supposed to be fun. And the last thing you want to do is tighten up and get too nervous. And I think an element of looseness helps out with that.

I mean, we're all -- everyone's on heightened state of alert. It's the playoffs. All hands on deck. Anything you've got to do, every inch, every centimeter, whatever, this is the time of year kind of all adds up. And to have that little voice in the back of your head saying, all right, you're going to do all that, but have fun and have a smile on your face as well, it just makes it a more natural feeling to go out there and compete.

Q. You had a pretty strong start against these guys but it was back in May. How much can you weigh the effectiveness of your pitching in that start versus the distance between then and now what may have changed since then?
MILES MIKOLAS: I can look to see if their hitters have changed any tendencies. I'll go back and watch that game again. Who knows how many times I'll watch it between today and tomorrow. But I'll watch it. I'll watch what I did well, what I didn't do well, make sure I'm not predictable, things like that.

But, like you said, it was a long time ago. And sometimes those things are just best left in the past. I'm not going to look to an old game and rest my laurels on that and just expect success.

I'm going to get the most recent reports we have, get with Yadi, put together the most comprehensive game plan we can get, and we'll go from there and make adjustments as we need to.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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