Three years after coming to Japan, pitcher Miles Mikolas hopes the extra passion he acquired for baseball in Japan will pay big dividends in his new role with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The 29-year-old right-hander, who came to the Yomiuri Giants in 2015 with a total of 91-1/3 major league innings under his belt, a week ago signed a two-year deal with the Cardinals in a deal worth a reported $15.5 million.

A reliever in 2012 and 2013, Mikolas made 10 starts for the Texas Rangers in 2014 and posted a 6.44 ERA in 57-1/3 innings. Despite striking out just 6.11 batters per nine innings in three big league seasons, he believes he is a strikeout pitcher again and could transform his career in the majors as well.

Mikolas proved that this year by leading Japan's Central League with 187 strikeouts in 188 innings. Over three seasons with the Giants, he dramatically improved his control and mastered his curveball -- and was energized by Japan's love for the game, he said.

"I think leaving on a high note like that gives me a lot of confidence going forward in continuing my major league career," Mikolas said after his arrival at the site of this year's winter meetings.

"Something I'll take from Japan is the passion for baseball. The level of passion and how much they love it makes me appreciate it so much more and put that passion and desire into my game. Playing with more intensity is something I will take back to the States."

Mikolas said he chose the Cardinals for a variety of reasons, including having spring training near his home, working with his former Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux, and getting to throw to an elite veteran catcher, Yadier Molina.

"When you talk about the list of catchers in the major leagues that you want to throw to, he's probably right there at the very top. Gold glove defensive catcher, great hitter, great leader in the clubhouse, I'm very excited to learn whatever he has to teach and be a part of that battery."

Pitching alongside Tomoyuki Sugano, this year's winner of the Sawamura Award as Japan's most impressive starting pitcher, was also a learning experience.

"Watching Sugano was big, watching how he strikes guys out was big, learning how to use my pitches better, working with (catcher Seiji) Kobayashi on how we want to set guys up, expand the zone when we can and keep it in the zone when we need to -- a lot of time and effort," said Mikolas, adding he also enjoyed competing got the strikeout title.

Like a lot of foreign pitchers who succeed in Japan, Mikolas learned to throw strikes more often and improved at least one secondary pitch, in this case his curve. That enabled him to complete the transformation from the reliever he was early in his career to a starting pitcher who is in demand.

"(The curve was) something I worked on last offseason and kept working on through the spring. I was able to get a little more arm speed, keeping it tight, not just throwing strikes but throwing quality strikes, and being able to move the ball in and out and up and down."

Mikolas suggested he learned how to make the transition from the "one-inning mentality" of being a reliever to becoming a solid starter in Japan. He called it more of a chess game -- figuring out what pitches to use in various situations -- rather than trying to blow batters away.

Japan is in the rearview mirror, at least for now. But he cherishes those memories and said he wouldn't rule out ending his career there sometime in the future.

"The one thing I will miss is the fans at Tokyo Dome. Getting to pitch there to sellout crowds is really something. No matter what day it was, they were there singing, cheering, playing music. That was one of the best things."