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From near his perch at Busch Stadium, where he calls games for the Cardinals' Spanish language broadcast, Polo Ascensio surverys the style of game, the style of play, and, yes, the style of his calls for the 2025 Cardinals.

The nine-game home stand did not lack for some compelling games -- though evidently there is some debate on how entertaining the opening innings of the Cardinals' 2-1 victory against the Dodgers was -- and that had to be reflected in the calls from all of the broadcast booths. Ahead of Toronto completing a series sweep of the Cardinals, Ascensio spoke with Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold about those calls, about the enthusiasm and inspiration he brings to them as well as whether this team has made such energy easier with its style of play.

Ascensio also discusses the catching history of the Cardinals and the catching present, with background on how two members of the current team, Willson Contreras and Ivan Herrera, signed with the Cardinals specifically because of their fondness for former Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina. The podcast explores why Contreras stayed with the Cardinals when the team, pivoting toward youth, offered to trade him to a contender, and there a conversation about Herrera's future at catcher.

Ascensio's broadcasts with former catcher and former Cardinals coach Bengie Molina are available for every home game on WIJR/880 AM La Tremenda. There is hope from many parties in and around the Cardinals that the broadcasts will expand beyond home games, especially if the club continues to contend late into the season.

The Best Podcast in Baseball is in its 13th year as one of the first and most-downloaded baseball podcasts and a leader among the Cardinals-based podcasts. It is sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, and it is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold. It is part of the constant Cardinals coverage available at StlToday.com and in the pages of the Post-Dispatch daily.

Post-Dispatch podcasts page: https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43

Please consider subscribing: https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5

The first extended home stand of season brings two sides of the contending spectrum to Busch Stadium, with the Kansas City Royals in an upswing after some down years that have brought in high-end talent and then the Los Angeles Dodgers and how they can muscle their way into perpetual contention with financial might. Somewhere in the middle is where the Cardinals' must find their sweet spot -- not stomaching the downturn the Royals experience while unable to spend like the Dodgers do.

Post-Dispatch sports columnist Jeff Gordon joins the Best Podcast in Baseball host and baseball writer Derrick Goold do discuss and compare the building of contenders through various blueprints.

As the Cardinals rethink theirs, what can they borrow from each of the teams visiting this week, and what can they pull from their rival they're about to visit -- the Milwaukee Brewers?

Gordon presents a hypothetical about the draft and choosing between the high-ceiling high school pitcher and a surefire college starter. Goold offers a quick answer certain to disappoint but not so easily dismissed.

The podcast concludes with a discussion on whether the Chicago White Sox are about to do what no other National League Central team has been able to do: Push the Cubs to spend like their market suggests they should and now may have to in order to keep up with the South Side and the Sox new investor.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is in its 13th season as one of the first and most popular podcasts about the St. Louis Cardinals. It is a weekly production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

Post-Dispatch podcasts page: https://go.stltoday.com/0hfn43

Please consider subscribing: https://go.stltoday.com/9aigz5

A big, defining topic for the Cardinals' future and their development of a big, defining hitter needs a jumbo-sized Best Podcast in Baseball.

For more than a decade, the Cardinals have had to go shopping for their middle-order hitters -- either by trade (Paul Goldcshmidt, Nolan Arenado, Marcell Ozuna) or, rarely, by free agency (Carlos Beltran, Willson Contreras) -- but during this "reset" year where offense has been a major part of their success, the Cardinals seem closer to having homegrown hitters in the middle of the order to build around. Brendan Donovan, currently hitting No. 3, leads the league in doubles and hits. Candidates to climb up to cleanup include Ivan Herrera.

There is the catch.

Herrera's bright future as a hitter seems clear. Less so, is where he fits at catcher.

Kevin Wheeler, host at KMOX/104.1 FM, joins the Best Podcast in Baseball to discuss all of the ramifications of this question: Can the Cardinals develop the middle of the order for a contending team? It's a question thick with implications. With St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold, Wheeler discusses Herrera's fit as a potential cleanup hitter, what it means that the Cardinals have an advancing group of catching talents in the minors, and whether Herrera needs to be flanked by a fellow prospect for the Cardinals to have a strong lineup. The cost of surefire middle-order hitters is only going up, and increasingly all teams need both lightning and thunder to come from within the house.

This BPIB discusses whether the Cardinals need to have Jordan Walker and/or Nolan Gorman join the middle of the order for their development summer to be a success, and where Alec Buleson, JJ Wetherholt, Lars Nootbaar, and Masyn Winn best fit into the lineup of the future.

The Cardinals, with 10 different players who have at least 15 RBIs, are cranking out the hits this season and they've won 18 of their past 23 because of the depth of their lineup. Is that what the future holds as well -- not one or two hitters that are the fulcrum of the lineup but a depth that goes all the way to the speed at the bottom?

The answer could be the key whether the Cardinals contend in the years they're looking toward as well.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a weekly production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.