On Wednesday night, the Nationals ended a seven-game losing streak in an extra-inning battle with the Philadelphia Phillies. While getting over a skid like the Nationals went through is a nice chance for the team to gain confidence to receive an already difficult National League Wild Card spot, snapping the losing streak wasn't the big news of the night. Miles Mikolas, who hadn't taken an at-bat since 2021, came into the game as a pinch hitter in the top of the 11th, already with the Nationals leading, and hit a sacrifice bunt, which scored the speedy CJ Abrams from third base. CJ got to third base by hitting a two-run triple in the previous at-bat.
Nationals Beat Reporter, Jessica Camerato, reports, "Mikolas’ versatile heroics came nearly five years to the day since the last Nationals pitcher recorded an RBI," when Erick Fedde hit a sacrifice fly to drive in a run vs the Atlanta Braves on August 6th, 2021.
The universal designated hitter is now in effect and takes away from awesome moments like Miles Mikolas, who has two career home runs as a pitcher, and now makes these moments more special when pitchers can have an impact at the plate. Obviously, with the permanent universal designated hitter going into effect for the 2022 season as a part of the current, and soon-to-be-expiring MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement, after having its trial run in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, not many pitchers have gotten the opportunity to get at-bats, let alone drive in a run... well, except two-way global superstar Shohei Ohtani.
Mikolas, Camerato reports, is only the third starting pitcher to drive in a run since the league-wide designated hitter was introduced. Mikolas joined Victor Mederos, for the Atlanta Braves this season, and Ryne Nelson for the Arizona Diamondbacks last season.
We, as fans, should be grateful for moments like these. Sure, most of the time, pitchers get out while at the plate, but when they can drive in a run by coming off the bench to save position players, that is something etched into fans' memories. I still remember when back in 2011, former Nationals pitcher Tommy Milone, ambushed the first pitch he ever saw for a three-run homer.
Miles Mikolas, who is the Nationals' starting pitcher today, officially reaches ten years of big league service time, an accomplishment so many big leaguers hope to reach, but fall short. While he probably wished for better results than his outing last night, reaching that 10-year mark is no easy feat, so congratulations Miles!
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