JUPITER, Fla. • Well onto the back fields at the Cardinals’ complex Tuesday morning, manager Mike Matheny watched from behind the batting cage and pitching coach Mike Maddux watched from behind the mound.
Starting pitchers don’t normally face their own hitters at this point in the spring, but Maddux had struggling Miles Mikolas and fellow righthander Bud Norris, recovering from hamstring spasms, throwing two simulated innings to top minor league hitters.
Helping to fix Mikolas, who has a 19.29 earned run average for two spring starts after starring in Japan the last three years, was uppermost on Maddux’s mind, and Matheny liked what he saw.