The Bernie Miklasz Show - Bernie Show: The Cardinals' reverse devil magic.

Bernie Show: The Cardinals' reverse devil magic.

11/12/24 • 36 min

For many years the St. Louis Cardinals would mystify front-office executives of other teams by consistently hitting the jackpot with later-round draft picks, low-key trades, and low-cost but high-value free agent signings. These successful sleight of hand moves frustrated opponents and confused media people. How do the Cardinals continue to do this? What do they see in a player that other teams can't see? Why do players go to St. Louis after playing elsewhere and suddenly get better? This became known as "Devil Magic," and the Cardinals had it in abundance.

But in recent years, the Cardinals have lost the touch. And now we have seen a "reverse" Devil Magic set in ... with other teams collecting players/pitchers that stalled or failed in St. Louis, only to thrive in a new environment. The Cardinals are on the wrong end of Devil Magic and only have themselves to blame for letting the high standards fall, the culture collapse, and the leadership weaken. In this video, I offer several theories to explain what went wrong. Thanks for watching.

Previous Episode

Bernie Show: Can Cardinals surprise in '25?

With Wilson Contreras staying, and with Sonny Gray highly likely to stay, the 2025 Cardinals might not be as bad as expected. I've been hearing that a lot from fans and my fellow media friends. And I think it's an interesting question that warrants a closer look. In this video I cite some of the reasons why the Cardinals could surprise us - within reason -- next season. And that scenario depends on the bounce-back potential of young hitters Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman ... plus other factors.

But I also believe we should make sure to have a reality check. Because there is one area of this team that must turn in an outstanding performance in 2025, or this talk of improvement will quickly fade. In this video I explain the why there are clouds over the positive forecast. And in the latter part of the video, I drop some easy to understand stats on you that will open some eyes. Thanks for watching!

Next Episode

Bernie Show: A horse named Noot

This is a video about a horse named Noot. For the St. Louis Cardinals to improve offensively in a meaningful way in 2025, Lars Nootbaar will have to play enough to make a difference. Nootbaar draws a lot of walks, fuels the team's onbase percentage, and can hit for power. He can also play all three outfield positions. He isn't much of a base stealer, but I don't care about that. I dwell on what he does well. And when Nootbaar is healthy, he does many things well.

But that's the problem: over the past two seasons combined, he's missed 103 in-season days because of five stays on the injured list. Because of his many absences, Nootbaar hasn't provided the high-level impact he's capable of delivering. And that reduces his value. Can Nootbaar hold up in 2025 to make 140+ starts? And if he is physically able to play that much, will manager Oli Marmol wise up and put Nootbaar in the leadoff spot -- the obvious lineup location place where he belongs? Or will Marmol repeat the mistake he made last season when the Cardinals finished last in the majors with a .292 leadoff onbase percentage. Historically, that .292 leadoff OBP was much, much worse than it seems. In this video, I'll share an important statistical nugget to explain just how bad it was. Thanks for watching.