Central Casting: What role will Cardinals play in making the division a real race?

Best Podcast in Baseball

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Sports, Baseball

4.6 • 690 Ratings

🗓️ 22 May 2026

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

CINCINNATI -- The Cardinals continue a stretch of 12 consecutive games against National League Central rivals, and all five division teams will reach their 50th game of the season with a record at .500 or better.

At least four will have winning records as the first third of the season comes to an end.

But is there a real NL Central race?

Post-Dispatch editor Nathan Mills joins baseball writer Derrick Goold to discuss the division and what each team needs to do to win the title. The Cubs and Brewers stand out. The Reds have intriguing talent. The Pirates have a wicked pitching staff. The Cardinals ... must continue to win at the margins, and there's a word that Goold gives to that: "Zero Defect."

Besides, the real race in the division may not be on the field at all.

It could be in the dugout.

If the Cardinals continue to play beyond expectations, manager Oli Marmol may present the best challenger in the division to Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy's three-peat as National League Manager of the Year.

Also discussed on this episode:

The method behind the six-inning starts from the Cardinals rotation.
How to update classic pitching metrics for a modern starter.
The invention, in real-time of Skyline Chili poutine. You're welcome.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	It's a brand new best podcast in baseball.
0:02.0	I'm joined by Post Dispatch Editor Nathan Mills.
0:05.1	We're going to talk about the National League Central.
0:09.2	It's filled with winning teams, but that's not going to last.
0:12.5	We also discuss how to measure the modern starter.
0:15.8	And if it's time to update some of the stats that have grown dusty and insignificant over time.
0:21.9	And now are misleading.
0:23.8	Can anybody in this game pitch more than six innings anymore?
0:27.0	Well, there's a reason why no one with the Cardinals has or just one for the Cardinals has.
0:32.9	Nathan Mills, brand new BPI be coming to you soon.
0:36.4	Cue the music.
0:43.4	Thank you. Mills, brand new BFIiB coming to you soon. Cue the music. Hello, everybody, and welcome to the best podcast in baseball, brought you by Clause
0:46.4	by Design of St. Louis. I'm St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derek Gould.
0:50.1	Join this week by editor there at the Post-Dathan mills good to have you back nathan i
0:57.1	apologized in the previous episode for being awall for a while um there's still some remnant in my
1:04.9	voice as to why i was awall so it's good to see you and i apologize um if you wondering why I wasn't answering your phones, it wasn't because I was always behind on on deadline. Though I probably, I mean, that sounds right. I honestly just assumed you hated me. That's what I was thinking. I probably made a bad. Yeah. No, I understand. I've been, I've been stick all spring myself, myself. So I get it. No worries. No need to apologize. I mean, Star Wars characters had more articulation than I did. I couldn't like I would mumble and grumble and gravel would come out. It was really bad. Yeah, you got to do a whole episode as like Jabba the Derek, Derek the Hut.
1:45.4	Yeah, no, I couldn't even get that.
1:47.5	Like, yeah.
1:48.8	You know, please don't.
1:50.4	I always called that.
1:51.5	It hurt.
1:56.4	So we have a lot to discuss.
	...

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