Paul Goldschmidt had a tough start to last season, including a career-worst 0-for-32 slump that ended on May 11 with a ninth-inning single to avoid his first five-strikeout game.
“The feeling was just like, man, I’m better than this,” the former NL MVP said on Thursday, three days after signing a $12.5 million, one-year contract with the New York Yankees.
“But you got to go out and prove it. I mean, if you don’t perform, then you know you’re not going to be playing. And I think that’s just the truth in this game and in life.”
A seven-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner, the 37-year-old first baseman left St. Louis and joined the Yankees after they lost Juan Soto to the rival New York Mets.
Following a World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Yankees have also added left-hander Max Fried, closer Devin Williams, and outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger.
Goldschmidt will join Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Bellinger to give the Yankees four MVPs on their roster.
Goldschmidt, who had shaved off his beard and mustache, spoke to the media for about half an hour. He expressed excitement about joining his new team, the third of his major league career, and remembered a series he played at Yankee Stadium with St. Louis on Labor Day weekend last year.
“Just to feel the energy walking out of the dugout, that was really fun,” he said. “The energy’s high every game there.”
Goldschmidt spent his first eight seasons with Arizona and the last six with the Cardinals, but struggled last season, finishing with a career-low .245 batting average, 22 home runs, and 65 RBIs. He bounced back late in the season, hitting .283 with seven homers and 25 RBIs after July 28.
“Some things that I did wrong got exposed, and I just wasn’t hitting pitches that for most of my career I’ve been able to connect on,” he explained. “There were things that the opponents were doing, whether they were pitching me differently or stuff like that.”
Goldschmidt has a career .289 batting average with 362 home runs and 1,187 RBIs from his time with Arizona (2011-18) and the Cardinals (2019-24). In 2022, he hit .317 with 35 homers, 115 RBIs, and a .981 OPS, winning the MVP award.
In January 2023, Goldschmidt spent a day with Judge working on his hitting in Tampa, Florida, near Judge’s home.
“That’s something I’ve always tried to do, find great hitters or great players or coaches and just try to seek them out and try to learn from them,” Goldschmidt said.
“We just stayed in touch. He’s one of the best hitters in the world, maybe the best hitter, and as a right-handed power hitter, a guy that I’m very, very excited to play with and get to see him work every day.”
Goldschmidt also went to Driveline Baseball in Kent, Washington, before the 2024 season for two days of mechanical analysis. However, he struggled in spring training, going 6-for-47 (.128), and hit .224 with 22 RBIs in 52 games through May.
He noticed that his upper and lower bodies were out of alignment in his swing, and mentally, he was also struggling.
“There’s times where maybe I was patient and pitchers were just getting ahead very quickly, and I was just sitting there in an 0-2, 1-2 count,” he said. “It’s easy to look at somebody when they’re struggling and say what’s wrong. It’s not always easy to say how to fix it or for us to actually fix it or make those adjustments.”
