St. Louis Cardinals: Breaking down Paul Goldschmidt’s resurgence

In his first season with the St. Louis Cardinals, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt had a rough go of things compared to his career. He has seen a serious bounce-back season so far this year with a brand new approach.

In 2019, newly acquired first baseman Paul Goldschmidt didn’t have a horrible year for the St. Louis Cardinals; in fact, he put together a pretty good season considering the fact that he hit 34 home runs. Even with that power output, he put together career lows in almost every other stat. Including his lowest career OPS, wRC+, and wOBA.

For most players, his stats would’ve been pretty good, but for how phenomenal Goldschmidt has been throughout his career, most fans considered him to be a bust or a disappointment and on the down end of his potential Hall of Fame career.

So far in 2020 though, he has started to see a resurgence; and in a big way. The “Big Fundy” currently has an absurd .353/.495/.541 line. With just three homers, an average exit velocity of 87.6 mph and a .188 ISO, Goldy has started to lose his power a little bit, but his ability to get on base has been insane. You might think that sounds super boring, but I view it as it’s much better than getting out.

Goldschmidt seems a LOT more patient at the plate this season, not chasing anywhere as many bad pitches as he did last year. Compared to 2019, his BB/K numbers are like day and night compared to this year’s. His strikeout rate went from 24.3% to 12.6% and his walk rate went from 11.4 to an absurd 21.6 percent.

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This could be due to a new contact first approach at the plate. It also seems like it is clearly working, as it has contributed to an MLB leading .495 OBP, which is really good by the way. His wOBA and xwOBA are both at career highs as well.

Not only has he been getting on base at a super impressive rate, but he has also been hitting the ball very well too, even with lower exit velocity rates. He currently has a .353 BA, in part to his 42.3% sweet spot percentage. Goldy’s 1.037 OPS is currently seventh in the NL. The “Big Fundy” has an absurd 186 wRC+, and to put that into perspective; Mike Trout currently has a 174 wRC+.

Paul Goldschmidt’s resurgent campaign has been super under-the-radar among MLB fans and media. He should be able to make a case for the 2020 NL MVP, but he might not win it due to how good Fernando Tatis Jr. and Juan Soto have been this season.

Regardless though, Paul Goldschmidt is back and has been carrying an otherwise dismal St. Louis Cardinals offense this year. If his new approach keeps paying dividends, it could propel the Cardinals into a playoff spot for the second consecutive year.