St. Louis Cardinals: Is Paul Goldschmidt turning the corner?

Paul Goldschmidt has been scuffling. In the last two games though, things have started to look up for the St Louis Cardinals’ first baseman.

When the St Louis Cardinals acquired Nolan Arenado, fans were excited about having both Paul Goldschmidt and Arenado at the top of the batting order to improve the offense. While Arenado has had his moments, Goldschmidt has faded after Opening Day. A mild-mannered ballplayer, it is surprising to see him show some animated frustration this year.

It’s hard to ignore Goldschmidt’s cold hitting. The veteran first-baseman has a wOBA of .269 and a wRC+ of 73, well below the MLB average. He does rank in the top 20 of all MLB hitters in hard hit percentage among qualified batters. However, my colleague Miranda Remaklus notes that just because you hit the ball hard does not always guarantee getting on base.

One of the problems that has plagued Goldschmidt so far is that he is chasing…a lot. He’s ranked in the 26th percentile of all MLB hitters in chase rate. On top of that, his whiff rate has already increased by 5% on both fastball and breaking pitches from the shortened 2020 season. The only pitches he’s been successful on are changeups where he’s crushing the ball with a .333 batting average and a .583 SLG.

Now, why do I think he’s turning the corner? Because he’s making mechanical adjustments to his swing.

During the broadcast Tuesday night against the Phillies, Jim Edmonds mentioned how Goldschmidt was pulling off too early during his cuts and may be suffering from fatigue due to travel. With Goldschmidt getting his timing back, the results are starting to show.

Goldschmidt’s solo home run off Vince Velasquez was blasted 431 feet to center field at 105.4 MPH Wednesday. This came after Tuesday, where Goldschmidt almost, by inches, homered on the first pitch from reliever Sam Coonrod. It was a ball hit at 100.4 MPH to right field.

Right now, Goldschmidt is not near what he is capable of on offense, but baseball seasons do not end at the end of April. The best hitters always make adjustments throughout the season, and we are starting to see that with Goldschmidt in this Philadelphia series. Now it is just a matter of going on a hot streak.