Mikolas is on the IL after being shut down a month ago with shoulder soreness. A pitcher isn’t sidelined for months due to just some soreness, so there’s clearly something more going on here that the Cardinals haven’t reported. The underlying cause of the soreness could be something like a rotator cuff strain or tendinitis. Mikolas said this shoulder injury started because he overthrew when facing live hitters for the first time at Spring Training. Mikolas missed the entire 2020 season due to surgery to repair his flexor tendon. I believe he did too much too fast, causing a compensatory shoulder injury.
Earlier this week Mikolas threw his first bullpen session since being shut down. He will throw at least one more before being cleared to face live hitters. He remains without a clear timeline to return, but I expect him to miss at least another month. The Cardinals need to take a very cautious approach as he is still going to be dealing with the lingering effects of elbow surgery in addition to the new shoulder injury. If he continues to progress he could return sometime in May.
From the Athletic today:
InjuryMailbag
Mikolas is on the IL after being shut down a month ago with shoulder soreness. A pitcher isn’t sidelined for months due to just some soreness, so there’s clearly something more going on here that the Cardinals haven’t reported. The underlying cause of the soreness could be something like a rotator cuff strain or tendinitis. Mikolas said this shoulder injury started because he overthrew when facing live hitters for the first time at Spring Training. Mikolas missed the entire 2020 season due to surgery to repair his flexor tendon. I believe he did too much too fast, causing a compensatory shoulder injury.
Earlier this week Mikolas threw his first bullpen session since being shut down. He will throw at least one more before being cleared to face live hitters. He remains without a clear timeline to return, but I expect him to miss at least another month. The Cardinals need to take a very cautious approach as he is still going to be dealing with the lingering effects of elbow surgery in addition to the new shoulder injury. If he continues to progress he could return sometime in May.