Cardinals: Paul Goldschmidt should be in early MVP conversation

After dominant month of May, St. Louis Cardinals star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt should be in early MVP conversation.

The St. Louis Cardinals can beat opposing teams in many ways on offense. They have Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, two bonafide stars, leading the way while having others on offense such as Nolan Gorman, Tommy Edman, Dylan Carlson, Harrison Bader and Yadier Molina. That isn’t even including Tyler O’Neill, who is on the Injured List.

So far this season, it’s been the stars that have carried the Cardinals’ offense. First, it was Nolan Arenado, who hit .375/.444/.681 with a 1.125 OPS, five home runs and 17 RBI in April/March. Now, it’s Goldschmidt, who manager Oli Marmol said (via MLB.com) that “It’s tough to execute better than what he’s shown us to this point.”

Marmol isn’t wrong. In May, Goldschmidt is hitting a staggering .400/.461/.800 with a 1.261 OPS, eight home runs and 26 RBI. On the season, he’s hitting .345/.413/.601 with a 1.014 OPS, nine home runs and 36 RBI. The National League MVP race, at least publicly, has felt like Arenado vs. Manny Machado.

But Goldschmidt should be prominently featured in the conversation, too.

Without Goldschmidt, it’s hard to imagine where the Cardinals would be. Entering Saturday, they rank fifth in batting average (.252) and tied for sixth in runs (215). They have managed to stay only 3.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central despite Jack Flaherty missing the first 40+ games, Tyler O’Neill struggling to regain his MVP performance from 2021, and the rest of the rotation (Steven Matz and Jordan Hicks) falling apart.

Because of it, Goldschmidt very well may win Player of the Month in May. His competition figures to be Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts, who hit .347 with 10 homers and 25 RBI this month, and the award could very well be decided in how each performs in the next couple days.

Regardless, Goldschmidt’s name deserves to be in bigger conversations than Player of the Month. Because right now, he’s playing like an MVP.