The Bernie Miklasz Show

Greetings. I'm so thankful for all of the support you have given me since I started my own YouTube channel late last summer. The growth of the show is gratifying, and your audience loyalty means the world to me. But I'm here to announce my next career phase: I'm joining a new venture, SportsHubSTL, which was started by my longtime friend Dave Greene. In short, you will be able to find my video commentaries -- and my written commentaries -- on the SportsHubSTL platform. No more searching. All of my individual work can be found at the same place, and the convenience should be beneficial to you -- and to me. There are several reasons why I made this decision, and in this video I will bring you inside the loop and lay it all out for you ... and also give you a complete rundown of all of the sports-media work I'm doing. The changes keep coming, with new doors opening, and that's a GOOD thing. Anyway, watch this one for all of the info. This particular video platform will still be here, but starting Monday (March 24) my new videos, and my columns, will be available at SportsHubSTL.com ... please join me at my new home. And thank you for everything! --Bernie

I wanted take some time today to talk about a player that I respect ... and respect a lot. That would be Willson Contreras, the erstwhile catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals who has moved to first base for 2025. It is a wise move that will give Contreras more at-bats -- while also creating more at-bats for the impressive young hitter, Ivan Herrera, at the catcher position. I'm glad that Willson Contreras is still a Cardinal. After the was so unfairly treated and benched when manager Oli Marmol capitulated to mewling pitchers early in 2023 -- blaming the catcher for their own failures -- my respect for Contreras grew. He handled this shabbiness with grace, class and a spirit of forgiveness. You can always count on him to play hard and care about doing as much as he can to help the Cardinals win. Oh, and he's one of the top right-handed hitting batters in the majors. Near the end of this video, I included 3 random "Bernie Bits" notes for some bonus content. Thank you.

The St. Louis Blues are a different team since Jim Montgomery became their new coach on Nov. 25. In this video I explain all of the reasons behind the Blues' dramatic turnaround -- but nothing has been more important than Montgomery's brilliant work at reestablishing a strong identity at 5-on-5 play. We haven't seen this type of 5-on-5 dominance from a Blues team for a long time, and there is nothing fluky about their recent hot streak.

As the roster shapes into its final form for opening day on March 27, the St. Louis Cardinals are basically repackaging the 2024 team and putting a new wrapper on it. If there's a strategy, it's hoping to get lucky. In this video I discuss all of this and more, explaining why it makes sense to give young players and pitchers the benefit of the doubt and put them on the roster for 2025 as a way to prepare them to become key pieces in 2026. And 2025 is the perfect season to try creative things, different things, and new things. If not now, when? Plus much more ... thanks for watching.

Just like last season, the 2025 St. Louis Cardinals will be loaded with left-handed hitters, especially in their collection of outfielders. Now, this would be a true positive if these left-handed batters were more effective on a consistent basis. And if these LH batters are hitting well as a group, this would make the Cardinals a lot more capable when facing right-handed pitching. Why? Because over the past three seasons, 73% of the plate appearances taken by big-league hitters have come against right-handed pitching. For the Cardinals to improve offensively in 2025, their LH bats will have to come through with much better results than they did in '24. It's bad enough to have these incessant logjams that are a John Mozeliak speciality. But it's worse when the logjams are such a big factor in shaping a mediocre/poor offense. Thank you for watching.

The 2025 Cardinals haven't done much to generate enthusiasm within their sprawling fan base in advance of the new season. Not a dollar spent on a major-league free agents. No significant additions. In what was supposed to be a "reset" year, the Cardinals are bringing back most of the parts from their 83-win team in 2024. Over the last two seasons the Cards rank 22nd among 30 MLB teams in winning percentage. Despite that, the Cardinals ranked 4th in the majors in home-game tickets sold in 2023, and were 7th in 2024. But a lot of folks weren't using the tickets they purchased; the no-show factor is glaring and obvious. The 2025 season will be particularly challenging for the Cardinals, who haven't done much (if anything) to rally the fan base after the past two years. And as of today, the Cardinals were seemingly struggling to fill Busch Stadium for the March 27 Opening Day. If you go to the Cards' official web site and look at the available tickets for the first game of the season, the visual is stunning. There are swaths of seats available, even in the seating areas that used to be highly coveted. Opening Day in St. Louis won't be the same.

St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn is a terrific player who turns 23 on March 21. The best is yet to come. But as a leadoff man, Winn struggled to get onbase, especially when facing right-handed pitching. And for the season, his .290 leadoff OBP was 29th among the 30 hitters who had the most plate appearances batting leadoff. Overall, Winn was 25th among 30 leadoff men with a 93 wRC+ -- which translates to 7% below league average offensively. He was much worse (23% below league average) against RH pitchers. Manager Oli Marmol has attractive leadoff options in Brendan Donovan. What will Marmol do if Winn struggles, again, in the No. 1 spot?

In recent interviews, Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina separately expressed their desire to manage in the big leagues. Pujols was the subject of an excellent story written by Bob Nightengale of USA Today, and Molina shared his feelings in an interview with the fantastic Katie Woo of The Athletic. I encourage all of you to read them. In this video -- because of timing -- I'll focus on Pujols because of the endorsements he's receiving from prominent voices in and around the game. And I'm focusing on Pujols because of something Nightengale wrote: Pujols (as a spring-training instructor) had a 45-minute meeting with Angels hitters that was so powerful and stirring, even the Angels pitchers and others slipped into the meeting room to listen. And why do I care about this meeting? Because Pujols referenced all of the great, esteemed Cardinals legends, and described their impact on the way he played baseball. And he still carries their passed--down wisdom forward. Sounds like something the Cardinals could use.

Hello again. The Blues are on a roll, having gone 5-1 in the last six games and 6-1-1 in their last eight. They now are just one point out of the second wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference and seem to be peaking at the right time. In this video: -- Will the Blues trade team captain Brayden Schenn before Friday afternoon's trading deadline? -- The pros and cons of dealing Schenn. -- What I think GM Doug Armstrong will do. -- What are the Blues' realistic chances of qualifying for the postseason? -- What are the reasons behind the Blues' turnaround? -- What is the biggest difference -- positive -- about this team since Jim Montgomery became coach 41 games ago on Nov. 25?

Albert Pujols has informed the world that he's ready to manage in the big leagues, and is ready to go if he gets the call this season or before 2026. Naturally -- and nationally -- there's considerable speculation about a Pujols-Cardinals reunion, with The Great Pujols becoming the manager for a franchise and a fan base that he truly loves. I don't know what will happen, but it would be risky business, and bad business, for Pujols to go manage another team if he's snubbed by the Cardinals. And can you imagine the reaction in Cardinal Nation if Pujols became a successful manager elsewhere? In this video I take on the three issues thar are frequently cited as a reason to bypass Pujols as the next manager of the Cardinals. I did a lot of research on this, and I have a ton of information to present that might make you see this in a different way. Thanks for watching.

The St. Louis Cardinals pledged that 2025 season would be a "reset" after the team ranked 22nd among 30 teams in winning percentage over the past two seasons. But the reset never happened. The reset became a "transition," but I that only applies to the project to refurbish a horrendously outdated minors/development operation. I don't see a transition underway at the major-league level. Maybe later in the season, yes. But now? No. Reset. Transition. Those words don't apply. So here's my word of the day: REWIND.

Over the weekend, the great Albert Pujols told reporters that he's ready to manage in the big leagues, and even presented a timetable: sometime this season (if a job opens) or in 2026. The Cardinals have a manager, Oli Marmol, under contract through the 2026 season. But nothing prevents St. Louis from changing managers, and John Mozeliak already fired two managers -- Mike Matheny and Mike Shildt -- who won more than Marmol has in St. Louis. If Albert Pujols sends word that he would love to manage the Cardinals, how could the Cardinals say no? Do the DeWitts want to lose more fans, more ticket-buying customers, and have a low-subscription rate in their new direct-to-consumer streaming service? And can you imagine what the reaction among Cardinals fans if the Cardinals say "no thanks" to Pujols and he becomes a successful manager for another team? In this video I discuss Chaim Bloom, MLB's shift to hiring inexperienced managers, and talk about how great MLB players HAVE become good big-league managers.

Greetings. Once upon a time, the St. Louis Cardinals were one of the best organizations in the majors in drafting and developing starting pitching. But that has changed, and I took a look at their epic failure in a crucial area. I reviewed their drafts from 2015 through 2021 -- seven years -- and their absolute ineptitude is was even worse than I thought. And I thought it was pretty bad. I explain all of this in today's video -- and why I am so happy that Chaim Bloom and Rob Cerfolio are on the scene to fix it.

St. Louis Cardinals manager Oli Marmol has worked for the organization for 18 consecutive seasons, startng when John Mozeliak selected him in the 6th round of the 2007 MLB draft. Between then and now, Mozeliak has promoted Oli every step of the way, moving Marmol up the ladder as a coach and manager in the minors and majors. But after the 2025 season, Chaim Bloom will take over for Mozeliak as president of baseball ops. And for the first time ever in his career as a Cards coach or manager, Marmol will be working for a new boss. What will that mean for Marmol's future? Please watch the video as I look at some questions that are on the table as the Cardinals prepare to pivot in a new direction.

Hello again. In today's video -- posted much later than planned because of technological issues -- is about the Cardinals "open competition" in center field. Listed alphabetically, the candidates are Lars Nootbar, Victor Scott II, and Michael Siani. If the priority is offense, then Nootbaar is the one. But do the Cardinals really want to go with Noot a lot in center field? I'm not sure. For this video, I narrowed the focus to the other candidates who are natural center fielders. Siani and Scott. If this is a true "Runway" season the Cardinals like to promote so much, I can't think if a position player that fits the "Runway" mission statement more than Victor Scott. Translated, runway means giving a full opportunity to young players, and Scott certainly fits that description. I explain why in today's video.

The great Derrick Goold (STLtoday) had an interesting story over the weekend, reporting (via sources) that teams are saying the Cardinals are "open" to the idea of trading starting pitcher Erick Fedde. Any such trade is a matter of timing. Sooner or later? Well it depends on what is being offered by a team (or teams) at the time. In this video, I talk about why trading Fedde makes sense ... why trading him for the wrong reason would be unacceptable.

Katie Woo of the Athletic reported some fresh news Friday: Nolan Arenado rejected a trade to the Astros even though the Astros were on his five-team list of approved destinations. And then he said no when a deal with Houston was on the verge of completion. That is Arenado's contractual right, of course. I don't blame him for that, though I certainly can question the decision. But what I won't do is rip St. Louis Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak for this. Mozeliak had five approved teams to deal with. Three said no. Arenado said no to the Astros. It was down to Boston as the last realistic option. And that possibility blew up as soon as free-agent Alex Bregman decided to sign with the Red Sox.

The Missouri Tigers are having an exceptional season that's even more impressive if we remember (which we do) the sad 0-18 record the team had in the SEC in regular-season play. Including a loss in the 2024 SEC Tournament, Tigers played 19 games against SEC rivals without having one happy-postgame reason to celebrate. To say that coach Dennis Gates has done an amazing job of elevating his program after last season's calamity -- well, I don't know if "amazing" captures the magnitude of what we've seen. In this video I talk about Wednesday's scintillating win over visiting Alabama. I take a look at how this victory showcased everything that Mizzou has done well this season -- including a relentless drive to compete to the max. I update where MU is ranked at KenPom and Bart Torvik. I update why this coaching performance by Gates is entering the one-of-a-kind realm. And where does this Missouri rank in program history? I have an answer for you. Thanks for watching and please subscribe.

Greetings. In my opinion the two most important people at St. Louis Cardinals spring training are Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman. If they successfully rebound from their brutal 2024 seasons, the 2025 offense will fly. If Gorman and Walker have another busted season, the St. Louis offense has little chance of taking flight. Yes, they are that important. \ In this video I explain why I have confidence in these two young hitters to bounce back -- perhaps even dramatically -- in 2025. And I explain why the new hitting coach, Brant Brown, can make a positive difference.

Chaim Bloom will take over for John Mozeliak after the 2025 season and take office as the president of baseball operations for the St. Louis Cardinals. The change is long overdue but welcome. Bloom correctly has spent most of his time overseeing the hugely important project of modernizing the antiquated and comically inadequate player-development/farm system operation.