About to start a long road trip out west, the Cardinals have already encountered some jarring potholes at the beginning of their season, from a split series vs. Pittsburgh to a botched series opener vs. Arizona. Pitching is the leading culprit. The rotation's contribution of two quality starts in the first 17 games has compromised a bullpen. The recent handling of Jordan Hicks spotlights another question: How and why have the Cardinals struggled recently to develop pitching, particularly power pitching? Alex Reyes is gone having never reached his potential. Dakota Hudson is in Class AAA looking for his. Hicks is in a mopup spot. And now Andre Pallante is optioned. With highway traffic as both a soundtrack and a metaphor, St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss the speed bumps behind and the road ahead. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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The season-opening home stand ended with sweep by Atlanta and the first true stress tests of the Cardinals -- one long predicted and the other completely unexpected. Once the cars had been returned to their sales lots and the Clydesdales to their stable, the Cardinals flashed a deep, persistent offense, as advertised. Jordan Walker, the 20-year-old rookie, punctuated his strong debut with his first career MLB homer. The Cardinals also had abbreviated, choppy, and messy starts from the rotation. The Cardinals leave for their first road trip of the season with rotation ERA higher than 7.00. They allowed 42 hits, and that includes five no-hit innings from Jack Flaherty. And that's not the only question lurking. Manager Oliver Marmol questioned Tyler O'Neill's effort on a pivotal play that yielded an out at the plate, and O'Neill was not in the lineup for the series finale vs. Atlanta. O'Neill defended himself, insisting it was not a lack of hustle, and he's eager to prove differently. It's not the first time Marmol has questioned a player's effort publicly, but it is the first time this season and it's earlier than ever, leading to a two-pronged test of the Cardinals: Who will lead the rotation through turbulence, and how will the clubhouse react to the O'Neill decision? St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson joins baseball writer Derrick Goold at Busch Stadium to discuss. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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The pitch clock introduced this year by Major League Baseball has the potential to radically change the pace of games, the pulse of pitchers, and even how games are covered by broadcasters. Who better to talk about it than a former pitcher who is now a broadcaster -- and never had an issue working fast? Brad Thompson, Bally Sports Midwest color commentator and a regularly contributor to 101.1 FM/WXOS in St. Louis, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to talk about the rule changes from a pitcher's perspective and how the countdown might stress relievers and alter the effectiveness of pitches. Thompson also discusses his own spring training experience as an example of how a player can make an impression on the back fields and ride that to the majors. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of StlToday.com, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and its host, baseball writer Derrick Goold.

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Jordan Walker and Masyn Winn have been standouts of the Cardinals' spring training, and there have been other young players who have impressed. But if spring training has been a showcase for the future of the Cardinals, what about the present and the pressure to compete for a World Series championship now? Tom Ackerman, sports director at KMOX/1120 AM, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss what he's seen so far in spring training from the young players and what that means for the window to contend with a powerful nucleus of Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt. Is this collection of standout players in jeopardy of falling short what other strong cores have accomplished in St. Louis? The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.com, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Entering spring training, the Cardinals promised competition. No really this time. Seriously. And maybe top prospect Jordan Walker is an example why. Manager Oliver Marmol and John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations, acknowledged that in past springs they've said there is competition but they start February with an idea of the roster. Actions are going to have to say otherwise this spring. St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports Ben Frederickson makes the case that there is competition this spring, while baseball writer Derrick Goold suggests it's the same verse, different spring. They've had competition in the spring before and yet find themselves circling back to the same situation. They perpetually open up ways for young players in the outfield, and annually look to the next generation to seize the job the previous players with opportunity did not. Walker could flip the script, and he is off to a powerful start. And he's not alone. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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In his new book 'Winning Fixes Everything,' author Evan Drellich details the corporate culture that led to the Houston Astros sign-stealing quagmire and probes how many of the leading executives got their start in baseball with the Cardinals. Drellich joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss new insight into the hacking scandal that will forever bind the Astros and Cardinals, the baseball operations approach that former Cardinals exec Jeff Luhnow created in Houston, and how organizational arrogance may have led to negligence. Drellich, a senior writer at The Athletic who along with Ken Rosenthal broke the story on Houston's trashcan caper during the 2017 season, explores the reporting on that story and the fallout from it, including how baseball clubs are reluctant to talk about their "trade secrets" and why that's bad for the game, bad for storytelling, and yet ignored because without the sign-stealing the Astros' winning would have lacquered over everything. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold. 

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One of the game's greatest bards and gentleman, Tim McCarver made his big-league debut at 17, played for the Cardinals, won with the Cardinals, and in his final tour as a Hall of Fame broadcaster returned to the Cardinals to call games. McCarver died Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. He was 81. Back in May 2016, while on a road trip to Washington, McCarver sat in the stands with St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to talk about his return, the role John Mozeliak played in it, and why there is still power in storytelling in baseball, even in a world accelerated by Twitter. This is a special rebroadcast of that episode that first aired May 31, 2016. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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Recorded in Jupiter, Fla., on the eve of the Cardinals' opening their 2023 spring training with the first official workouts, the 11th season of the Best Podcast in Baseball begins as it traditionally does: with 10 (or so) questions facing the Cardinals as spring blooms. St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold and sports columnist Benjamin Hochman go question by question in a preview of the decisions and dilemmas welcoming the Cardinals to Florida, from who plays center field to who wins lefty relief roles in the bullpen, who can make the most of the World Baseball Classic opportunity to what to make of prospect Jordan Walker's chances. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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In this bonus episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball, we bring you PlayBacks, an audio series that brings to life the archives of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

When Lou Brock first came to the Cardinals in 1964, a lot of St. Louis fans were unsure about the trade. But he made a splash in his first game with the Cardinals. Today we go to June 16, 1964, when Brock made a great first impression, and Ken Boyer hit for the cycle.

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After a discussion of Scott Rolen's election to the Hall of Fame and the coming parade of third basemen to Cooperstown, the Best Podcast in Baseball dives into a topic looming (huge) on the horizon. As spring training nears, one of the biggest storylines in Major League Baseball is how the game will be played. The bigger story may be how the game is watched. There are rising issues with the current broadcast model. Streaming has to modernize. And the gambling industry is becoming a major presence in professional sports -- and could be at any point for the teams in Missouri. That means betting, even micro-betting on individual pitch outcomes, could be part of the near future. There's a lot of money at stake. To make sense of this, Mark Saxon, baseball writer and former Cardinals beat writer and now reporter at Better Collectiv, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss how the increasing presence of the gaming industry at games and on broadcasts of games will shape how fans watch games and how reporters cover the games. The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

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