Miles Mikolas is a 32-year-old pitcher, nicknamed The Lizard, who spent much of the last season injured for the St Louis Cardinals.
Miles Mikolas College
Mikolas hails from Jupiter, Florida, and graduated in 2006. He attended Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, and played college baseball for the Nova Southeastern Sharks. In his junior year, he went 7–2 with a 2.06 ERA in 11 starts and was selected by the San Diego Padres in the seventh round of the 2009 MLB draft.
Miles Mikolas MLB Career
He spent four years with the Padres, rising through the ranks to receive a non-roster invitation to spring training in 2012. He was assigned to the minor league camp and started the year with San Antonio. He made his major debut against Miami Marlins, the club he supported in his younger years, but the first batter he faced hit a home run.
At the end of the 2013 season, he was traded to Pittsburgh Pirates, who then traded him to the Texas Rangers. He was released after one season and spent time in the NPB League in Japan with Yomiuri Giants. In December 2017, he signed a $15.5m contract with the St Louis Cardinals, finishing his 2018 campaign with an 18-4 record, an impressive 10-0 on the road. He was an MLB All-Star that year and NL Wins Leader.
In February 2019, he signed a four-year extension to his contract worth $68m, but he missed the entire 2020 season after undergoing surgery to repair a flexor tendon in his right arm. CBS Sports reports he will link up with the Cardinals in September 2021 as he returns from injury. The Cardinals certainly need their star man; they’re currently outsiders, according to Bwin Sports for the National League, behind eight teams, including the Cincinnati Reds. Amd Mikolas doesn’t appear on the list of names suggested for MVP, reflecting his recent injury record.
Miles Mikolas Nickname
Mikolas is known as the Lizard King, which relates to a story from his younger days when he ate a lizard as part of a wager, reports MLB. The incident occurred during a 2011 Arizona Fall League game, where he consumed a live lizard in the bullpen. The video was later posted to YouTube, earning him his famous nickname.
Miles Mikolas Net Worth
Mikolas is reported to be the eighth best-paid player with the Cardinals, ahead of the teammate Adam Wainwright, and in the top 100 earners in MLB. His net worth is estimated to be around $70m. His current contract is worth $68m, and it runs through to the end of the 2023 season.
Miles Mikolas’s Wife
Mikolas has a quite famous wife, Lauren Mikolas, whom he married in 2015. She was a former teacher but was perhaps better known as a UFC ring girl. She is also a certified wellness coach and is known as something of a social media celebrity, running a blog called Fearless Charm, which is also the name of her published book. The tales of her lifestyle in Japan when she moved with Miles during his NPB stint made her almost as famous as him for a short while.
