Cardinals: Andrew Miller fully recovered from COVID-19

Cardinals reliever Andrew Miller had COVID-19 in early February, though he says he is fully recovered from the virus.

The St. Louis Cardinals dealt with a COVID-19 outbreak last season that decimated their roster, postponing games and keeping key players, including Yadier Molina, out of the lineup for multiple weeks.

Andrew Miller, the Cardinals’ touring left-handed relief pitcher, announced that he tested positive for the coronavirus in early February. It explains his late arrival to spring training, though he has been fully cleared and threw a bullpen session almost immediately after arriving.

“I do have some very minor fatigue, basically from being shut down,” Miller told reporters on Feb. 23. “As much as I would prefer not to have been infected with COVID, it’s over and done with and, in a sense, maybe one less thing to worry about since it appears I’ve come through the other side pretty good.”

Miller, 35, projects as a high-leverage late inning reliever for the Cardinals. It is vital that he is 1) healthy and 2) remains an effective reliever, considering that depth has never been more essential. Teams fears continue to mount on how their pitching staffs will respond from ramping up from 60 to 162 games and Miller, who has high-leverage and multi-inning experience in his career, is of great importance to the franchise if they hope to make it through the season unscathed.

If the Cardinals get similar production from Miller as last season — 2.77 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 16 strikeouts in 16 games — they should be in good shape. He is not the same reliever as he was with the Cleveland Indians, where he led the team deep into the postseason by overpowering opponents in two or three inning stretches. Even then, he is still an impact reliever and now that he is fully recovered from COVID-19, should once again lead the Cardinals bullpen in 2021.