4 Cardinal hitters who will get hot in the month of June

Paul Goldschmidt

You had an idea he would be a candidate, especially after Sunday's two-HR game against the Cubs.

These were the words of a frustrated Paul Goldschmidt, who mired in a then-career worst zero-for-28 skid, which extended to 32 at-bats. 

"“I basically haven’t performed on every pitch … and location … and situation,” a frustrated Goldschmidt said between sighs. “It’s just been a combination of a lot of different things. It’s really not even about me targeting one thing that pitchers are doing. Right now, it’s just about putting good swings on pitches and having good at-bats.”"

- Paul Goldschmidt

Entering Sunday's late-night game, Goldschmidt had accumulated a disappointing 0.1 WAR. In addition to being a free agent in 2025, the 36-year-old first baseman's lack of production has drawn trade proposals. 

But stop me if you have heard this before. Paul Goldschmidt started the season slowly, but he went on a tear later on. 

We have seen glimpses of the old Paul Goldschmidt in the last twelve games before Sunday's game. Goldschmidt collected fifteen hits, including two home runs and six RBIs in 57 at-bats. In that stretch, Goldschmidt batted .283/.333/.453. Good results have come about, to the tune of a .419 BABIP. According to Xavier Scruggs, Goldschmidt made mechanical adjustments at the plate. 

https://x.com/Xavier_Scruggs/status/1795068053203435775

Before winning the 2022 National League MVP, Goldschmidt did not start that season very well. Through his first twelve games, Goldschmidt had zero home runs and held a mere slash line of .196/.302/.239. That equaled an OPS of .541. 

This year has proved to be a much bigger climb to elite performance for Goldschmidt. It will be shocking if he can regain his 2022 form, but Goldschmidt has shown he can go off at some point. History cannot repeat itself, but we can learn from our past. Paul Goldschmidt’s past tells us slow starts are uncommon, even if this was the most significant stretch of non-performance, but he can get hot after the start of the season.