Best Podcast in Baseball

"The season of the front office." That's what St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson called the 2022 season as it began, and more than 90 games in -- it still is. Frederickson joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer and BPIB host Derrick Goold to discuss the Cardinals at the All-Star break. They're a good team, a team with a winning record, and a team in need of a significant pitching upgrade to remain in the hunt to be a playoff team, let alone a great team. That puts them in a pinch. The front office has proven it can rebuild a bullpen during a season, but to do so this season might mean adding a frontline starter, which they've been reluctant to do in the past, let alone at the trade deadline. 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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A year ago, the Atlanta Braves had yet to see .500 and were scrambling to acquire outfielders in the same way the Cardinals tried to find starting pitchers. Through a series of shrewd moves, the Braves rebuilt their lineup at the trade deadline and everything clicked -- at the best possible time. As one executive said during the confetti-splashed celebration of the Braves' 2021 World Series championship: That is why you play to get in the playoffs and just see what happens. Dave O'Brien, the longtime Braves beat writer now at The Athletic, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss how a team struggling in July can become a champion by October. And, if Atlanta is now the team they imagined having -- and even better than they were before. The Cardinals troubles with the NL East are explored, and so is the skills of a manager rewarded for his devotion to the organization. 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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Ten years ago, in the attic of a home in St. Louis, two St. Louis Post-Dispatch sportswriters had a great name for a podcast -- thanks to a reader! -- but little idea how to actually put one together, let alone run the tech necessary. And thus the Best Podcast in Baseball began, but needed time to live up to its name. Co-creators of the BPIB, columnist Bernie Miklasz and baseball beat writer Derrick Goold, hold a reunion for the 10th episode of Season 10 and discuss all things about the 2022 St. Louis Cardinals: What rookies have staying power for years to come? What is the Cardinals' greatest need to go from good to great this season? Is the offense really as good as the numbers suggest, and how did it get there? What's up with the 2-6 record in games with a chance to sweep a series? In the 10 years since the beginning of BPIB, what are some of the discouraging trends in baseball -- and encouraging trends, too -- and if the Cardinals' winning record has only been the constant, has that invited complacency? All of that and more discussed with Miklasz, former Post-Dispatch sports columnist and now host of The Bernie Show (590 AM). 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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Jeff Levering, broadcaster for the Milwaukee Brewers on both radio and television, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss this "Golden Age of Brewers baseball" and a four-game series between the Cardinals and Milwaukee in June that has a distinct September, maybe even October, feel. With St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold, Levering discusses the Brewers' quest for a fifth consecutive playoff appearance and whether past falls have heightened the pressure on this year's team to do more than reach the postseason. Isn't it time to win? Is the clock ticking on how long the Brewers can remain the class of the National League Central? 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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The New York Times national baseball writer James Wagner joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss what happens when the writer tasked with covering the biggest story in baseball has the biggest story in baseball in his backyard. The New York Yankees and New York Mets have the best records in baseball -- and the Yankees are on a historic pace -- so can they keep that up, and have they shifted the balance of power in the majors away from Houston and Los Angeles? Wagner talks with St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold about the art of covering history, developing a nose for a good story (especially the most aromatic of stories), and what the view of the Cardinals is from the current center of the baseball universe. Are the Cardinals part of the industry elite, or have they been nudged to the periphery? 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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Ben Verlander, FOXSports.com baseball analyst and host of FOX Sports' award-winning podcast 'Flippin' Bats,' joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss how joy and personality are ways to promote the game of baseball, not grumbling and nostalgia. Nominated for two Hashtag Sports Award for his coverage of the 2021 World Series, Verlander also discusses his minor-league career, the imposing Ty Cobb picture in Lakeland, Fla., a change in June urgency in the 2022 season, and what it was like watching his brother, Justin, face the Cardinals during the 2006 World Series. He also recalls the scouting report he saw on Alex Reyes when the two played against each other in the Florida State League. Verlander, a top-rated player for MLB The Show, can be found on Twitch, Twitter (@BenVerlander), and his podcast (@FllippinBatsPod) is available where you found this podcast, plus it has a spot in YouTube. 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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A year after their pitching staff came apart with two injuries and one abbreviated outing at Dodger Stadium to plunge into an innings crisis and June swoon, the Cardinals find themselves ... right back where they were? St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson joins baseball writer Derrick Goold to answer that question and explore history repeating itself at Busch Stadium in a brand new episode of the Best Podcast in Baseball. As June arrives, the Cardinals are again searching for innings from their rotation to avoid a threadbare bullpen, a cascade of troubles, and a swoon that cost them the division a year ago. Have they learned from last year's slow move to address a need? Or, are they putting a lot of stock in the returns of lefty Steven Matz (in June) and Jack Flaherty (by July?). There are options out there. There is even an in-house option or two that the Cardinals continue to find reasons to avoid. 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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Before plunging into his collection of classic Mimsbandz and his search for a Vince Coleman pair, Todd Rosiak, senior baseball writer at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, discusses how he describes this year's Milwaukee club as "the best team on paper in Brewers history." It's all about the pitching. So what is Derrick Goold missing about this Brewers club? The host of Best Podcast in Baseball and St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer did not pick the Brewers to win the division because he felt the roster lacked the pitching depth to pull off an encore of what it did last year with three All-Star starters, two Cy Young Award contenders, one winner, and arguably the best left-right relief combo in baseball. Rosiak explains his premise, discusses the injuries facing the Brewers, and how they've become the model franchise in the division. And, then there are the sweatbands. Yes, the art and treasure of Mimsbandz is explored. 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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When the Cardinals arrived at the ballpark Sunday for the series finale against Arizona and an attempt to split a series with the Diamondbacks, the lineup, as a collective, had hit 14 home runs. Nolan Gorman, down with Class AAA Memphis, had 11. The Cardinals' top power prospect and closest prospect to the majors is off to a raucous start with the most homers in the organization, 16-game hitting streak, and growing demands from the fan base for his promotion. So what gives? Offense continues to be the question and what the Cardinals are willing to give to get some more consistently. St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Ben Frederickson joins baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss how long the Cardinals can wait for their offense to stir when it seems so similar to the year before (and the year before that, and the year before that), and what reasoning the team has for not bringing up Gorman as the left-handed, power presence they've been looking for. It's not service time, if that's what you're thinking. 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 press scrum surrounding Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols on Tuesday in Miami was crowded, and to help Pujols not only held the Post-Dispatch reporter's recorder but also offered to ask questions, too. That's where the first on-the-road Best Podcast in Baseball of 2022 begins -- with that clip and then with a conversation between two reporters used to asking a lot of the questions on the road. Bally Sports Midwest reporter/host Jim Hayes joins St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the early performance of the Cardinals, the return of Pujols to his first team, and the role Hayes plays in introducing the personalities of the players to fans. Hayes also tells the behind-the-scenes story on the day Nelly met Joe Kelly. 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. It is available anywhere you find podcasts and on the new Post-Dispatch app, STL Pinch Hits.

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