Andrew McCutchen expects to play today - MLB

Andrew McCutchen suffered an avulsion fracture in his left rib cage and missed two weeks. He came back and hit three home runs in six games after being activated, but he aggravated the injury on a catch against the outfield wall in the third inning Tuesday against the Cardinals. Losing the reigning MVP for long while the Bucs are in the wild card race would be disastrous. But it appears as though disaster is being averted:

McCutchen said he expects to play Wednesday when the Pirates and Cardinals wrap up their three-game series at PNC Park.

McCutchen is hitting .307/.403/.539 on the year and is playing his usual stellar brand of defense. If he can stay healthy and the Pirates make the playoffs, he’s likely a back-to-back MVP. If he goes down and the Pirates don’t, well, it sorta tells you why he’s the current MVP.

ST. LOUIS — Miles Mikolas is sticking with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The right-hander signed a three-year, $55.75 million contract on Friday that will carry through the 2025 season.

The new deal replaces a $68 million, four-year contract signed in February 2019 that covered the 2020-23 seasons and was set to pay $15.75 million this year.

Mikolas will receive a $5 million signing bonus payable July 1 and will make $18.75 million in 2023 and $16 million in each of the following two seasons. Mikolas can earn a $250,000 bonus for winning a Cy Young Award, $50,000 for All-Star election or selection or winning a Gold Glove, $100,000 for League Championship Series MVP and $150,000 for World Series MVP.

Mikolas is scheduled to make the second opening-day start of his big league career next Thursday when the Cardinals host Toronto. Mikolas went 12-13 with a 3.29 ERA last season while helping St. Louis to the NL Central title.

“Miles stands among the top pitchers in the game today, and has continued to provide a steady presence for us both in the rotation and inside the clubhouse,” St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak said in a statement.

Mikolas is 45-40 with a 3.79 in 143 games with San Diego, Texas and St. Louis. He recently pitched six shutout innings in two appearances for the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic.