Remembering Paul Goldschmidt’s historic Cardinals debut in Milwaukee

Three years ago, Paul Goldschmidt showed just how impactful he could be in his first series with the St. Louis Cardinals in Milwaukee.

Just over three years ago, the St. Louis Cardinals were debuting a new force in the middle of their lineup. Acquiring Paul Goldschmidt over the winter prior to the 2019 season, the team hoped that the six-time All-Star would pair well with Marcell Ozuna in the middle of the lineup as the team tried to break their streak of three seasons without a playoff berth.

While the pair didn’t do enough to make the offense that formidable, they did help the team reach the NLCS for the first time in years and Goldy is now a beloved mainstay in St. Louis.

Though Goldschmidt has had better years than he did in 2019 since his inaugural season with the Cardinals, it is a great time to remember how he began that season.

In the second game of the year, Goldschmidt set an MLB record with a wild three homer game that willed the Cardinals over their NL Central rivals.

This single-game performance was great on its own, but Goldschmidt finished the series with a total of four homers, tallying six total hits and seven RBI in 16 at-bats in the opening four-game series.

This series began what has been a long running resume of beating up on the Brewers by Paul Goldschmidt. Since being traded to the Cardinals, Goldy has a .973 OPS at Miller Park and a .913 OPS overall against the Brewers with 12 total homers.

Three years later, the Cardinals head back to Milwaukee for an early-season four-game series against the Brewers yet again on Thursday. This time, Goldschmidt won’t be as lonely in the middle of the lineup. Rather than being paired with Marcell Ozuna, Goldy is being backed up by the much more formidable group of Tyler O’Neill and Nolan Arenado.

To start the year, the Cardinals took care of business against the Pirates and Royals, currently sitting at 3-1 while the Brewers sit at 3-3 following a series loss to the Cubs and win against the Orioles. While eyes should be on Goldschmidt, it’ll be interesting to see if the Brewers’ slow start on the mound continues as the team currently ranks 24th in starter ERA after their first turn through the rotation.