4 pitchers who could replace Miles Mikolas in the Cardinals rotation

RHP Curtis Taylor

The St. Louis Cardinals had an extremely quiet winter. Outside of the Nolan Arenado rumors, very little happened with the club. In fact, their only offseason signing was reliever Phil Maton, whom the Cardinals promptly (and correctly) traded at this year's deadline.

They did have a flurry of minor-league contracts given out. One such player signed to a minor-league deal this past winter was right-handed Curtis Taylor, a career minor leaguer.

Curtis Taylor stands six feet six inches tall and weighs 235 pounds. He's an ideal pitcher size, and his former status as a fourth-round pick shows that he once had promise as a pitcher. His success this year is evidence of his pedigree.

Taylor was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fourth round of the 2016 MLB Draft out of Canada. He's played for various affiliates for the Diamondbacks, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Washington Nationals, Minnesota Twins, and Chicago Cubs, along with time in winter leagues and Independent Ball in Mexico. He, like many others on this list, is well-traveled.

Taylor has a career 3.50 ERA across eight minor-league seasons. He's struck out 442 batters in just 405.2 innings. This year, Taylor has a 7-3 record and a 3.06 ERA. He's struck out 91 batters in 103 innings, and he's walked only 35. In his latest start against the Durham Bulls on Wednesday night, Taylor went seven innings allowing only one run, walking two and striking out.

Similar to Aaron Wilkinson, Curtis Taylor is on a similar schedule to Miles Mikolas, whose next scheduled start is Monday. With the off day on Thursday, the Cardinals can get a little creative to squeeze in Taylor following his start on Wednesday.

Curtis Taylor started off the year as a reliever, but he transitioned to the rotation in late April, and he hasn't looked back since. At 30 years old, he doesn't necessarily qualify as a runway player, but he is deserving of a promotion nonetheless. His propensity to strike batters out this year paired with a history of high strikeout rates makes him an intriguing promotion candidate.