Miles Mikolas Discusses His Catcher’s Amazing Play
On Thursday, the St. Louis Cardinals came into their series finale with the San Francisco Giants having lost three straight games and fallen to seven games below the .500 mark for the first time since June of 2017.
However, when the team needed a solid starting pitching performance, Miles Mikolas delivered.
The game was scoreless until the seventh inning, but the Cardinals bats woke up and the team won by a final of 6-0.
Things got interesting in the bottom of the fifth, when San Francisco loaded the bases.
On a tapper in front of the plate, catcher Andrew Knizner had to hustle to nab David Villar at the plate, but he made an incredible play to barely prevent the run from scoring.
After the game, Mikolas commented on Knizner’s alertness on the play.
Mikolas on Knizner’s heads-up play: “I was about to field it. He could’ve just stayed put and I’d have flipped it to him. We had time. … Catchers might be the second-best athletes on the field after pitchers, so that’s definitely a great play for him to make.” #STLCards pic.twitter.com/UaZD0HSLe5
— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) April 27, 2023
Mikolas said that he actually was about to field the ball before Knizner got his hands on it.
The right-hander jokingly pointed out the obvious, that if Knizner stayed put and let him field it, he could have flipped it to him for the out.
However, Mikolas wasn’t complaining and was certainly proud of Knizner for thinking quickly and using his instincts to nab Villar at home.
Knizner had to dive and barely got his glove on the plate before Villar’s foot touched it.
Mikolas also commented that catchers are the second-best athletes on the field behind pitchers, and that Knizner did a good job of reading the play and making a fantastic play to prevent the run from scoring and keep the game tied.
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