Mikolas racked up six strikeouts and allowed just one hit over three scoreless innings in Tuesday's 1-0 exhibition loss to the Blue Jays.

EDGE Analysis

Mikolas took over after starter Luke Weaver opened the game and worked a trio of frames, and he utilized the opportunity to put an exclamation point on a spring that only got better as it unfolded. The veteran right-hander generated scoreless efforts in three of his last four appearances, compiling 16 strikeouts over the entirety of that span. Mikolas has credited his time in Japan, where he essentially resurrected his career with a 31-13 record over his last three seasons, with helping him refine all aspects of his game, Sean Farrell of MLB.com reports. "Just putting in the work and really being kind of isolated over there allowed me to just really focus on my craft and work on a lot of things with my pitching," Mikolas said. "My breaking balls, my timing, my delivery, just a lot of time to get comfortable as a starter, and I think that's begun to translate pretty well over here."