Tall Tales of Paul Goldschmidt

[Dback Jon]

FWIW, his OBP is actually .320 at present, with an OPS of .795... And his defense has been nothing short of impressively solid.
For a call-up from AA, I think he has acquitted himself extremely well, expecially when you factor in the pressure that comes with a pennant race! It's not like he got called up from double A for a team that we 20 games out of the race... Great job Goldy!!! Looking forward to what you can bring to the table next season and for many years down the road!!

Yup. His defence was supposed to be a liability, but it hasn't been. And I have seen good range from him.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

I'm not an expert on what he's saying about bat speed, but I don't really see him being a poor defender. He seems like he's a fairly athletic guy who can make the plays he needs to. Obviously since he plays first he's going to have to hit a ton though.

I'm extremely skeptical of defensive "ratings". Most metrics have Upton as the best RF in baseball, which is absurd, and CY as the worst outfielder on the team, which is equally stupid.

 

[PDXChris]

I'm extremely skeptical of defensive "ratings". Most metrics have Upton as the best RF in baseball, which is absurd, and CY as the worst outfielder on the team, which is equally stupid.

82CardsGrad must have created the formula then.

 

[Dback Jon]

Another dinger!

 

[Dback Jon]

3 RBI's for Goldie today!

 

[Bert]

Hey Keith Hall, Paul Goldschmidt called, he said you can go screw yourself. Have a nice day.

 

[ArizonaSportsFan]

Yeah, but his bat speed was so slow that he only tripled to right instead of rolling it over to 2nd base....

 

[Dback Jon]

Yeah, but his bat speed was so slow that he only tripled to right instead of rolling it over to 2nd base....

I think Goldie is making fools of a lot of people.

 

[Mulli]

Goldschmidt didn't look ready in the Futures game. Needs more time. Also missed a couple few chances to dig out balls in the dirt. Skaggs looked pretty good though.

Just needed a couple more weeks. Looks ready now.

Wooot!

 

[Tyler]

First Grandslam in DBacks postseason history.

 

[BC867]

First Grandslam in DBacks postseason history.

And just the third rookie in the history of Major League baseball to hit a grand slam HR in the post-season. And to the opposite field.

Mr. Grand Slam. Wow!

 

[Mulli]

Goldy had some seriously good at bats last night.

 

[Mathew81]

Love how he's been hitting the opposite way when pitchers are trying to avoid his power.

 

[AZZenny]

Making adjustments is what it's about for a rookie. Suddenly you're playing on well-groomed diamonds, not the rough defense-crushing stuff of the minors. Suddenly you're seeing pitcher after pitcher who is better than the best you would have faced in the minors, and being watched and analyzed by your opponents like SEALs on OBL. You're being hazed by umps and subject to the loud, very public swings of affection of fans and media.

And that process is something that can't be measured or figured out in advance. Some people -- and I think of Dustin Pedroia, forever my "one that got away" from us -- have the kind of ego and drive that lets them adapt, adjust, strive, and maximize every drop of their ability. Some, who shall remain politely nameless, just coast along wasting talent, and some fade straight to bench.

I get the feeling Goldschmidt may be able to handle this.

 

[BC867]

A grand slam and a two-run triple in his past two Spring Training games.

'Good to see.

 

[Avondale Red Rage]

I was wondering to myself recently, and then out of the blue while watching the Dbacks the other night the wife asked: "Goldschmidt looks like he has shrunk?"

 

[AZ Native]

Love how he's been hitting the opposite way when pitchers are trying to avoid his power.

This is not happening this year. He is trying to pull everything and looks worse than mediocre doing it. Where are the hitting coaches?

 

[Broseph]

You're about to hear a tale about Goldie being sent back down to the minors.

 

[BC867]

You're about to hear a tale about Goldie being sent back down to the minors.

The San Francisco Giants did it to Matt Williams and he returned as a solid fielder and RBI machine -- although never a legitimate cleanup hitter. Still, he made a contribution when he was recalled.

I'll never forget the night at Muni when Williams struck out three times with the Phoenix Giants (that was before they were called the Firebirds). I was sitting directly behind the on-deck circle and I called out, "Williams, you suck."

When I saw the way he glared at me, I was glad there was a fence between us.

Perhaps a dose of reality will lead Goldie to playing within his game and a successful return to the Majors, if he is sent down.

 

[Lefty]

Send Goldy to the minors. He is hurting this team.

 

[Gaddabout]

Some of us thought he was called up too early until he showed up and started hitting game-winning home runs. Development usually stops once they get here because they don't get the personal attention and patience they had in the minors. He probably does need another year down there to work on things, but I'd probably send him back to Mobile rather than Reno. He'll just blow up his numbers in the PCL.

 

[AZ Native]

Yeah, when he first came up he was hitting monster home runs against the best fastball pitchers. They were throwing to the rookie mano to mano. He was killing them Since then they have adjusted and he is trying to pull every pitch on the outside corner in the seats. He is not going with the pitch and paying for it dearly. It is difficult to watch.

 

[devilalum]

At least with Upton we have all seen his ability to bounce back and we are all pretty certain he'll break out. With Goldschmidt I just don't know. Right now he's horrible.

 

[82CardsGrad]

It's painful to watch... I feel so bad for the guy. And I'm sure he feels so alone on this team. I gotta believe Gibby, Baylor and others must see something in him, something that they believe has him "close" to busting out. And if they don't, they gotta send him down to Reno asap!

 

[Longcolts]

He is for sure having a rough time right now.