Arizona Diamondbacks: Making Paul Goldschmidt’s NL MVP Case
Aug. 13, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA: Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt hits a walk off home run in the 11th inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The Arizona Diamondbacks are fighting to stay relevant in the post season picture in the National League. The way they are playing right now, it looks like they will miss the playoffs again.
They had a pitcher in Patrick Corbin that was a dark horse candidate for the CY Young Award, but he has faltered with him giving up 13 earned runs over his past two starts. There is still one player on this team that could take home some hardware.
This would be their slugging first baseman Paul Goldschmidt or if you live in Arizona you call him “America’s First Baseman”. Goldschmidt is having a breakout season for Arizona with him playing great defense and being the leader on offense for the club.
The young slugger has a .293 average with 31 HRs that includes him having 104 RBIs and he has a chance to win the MVP in the NL this season.
The D-backs have dealt with numerous injuries to key players on their roster like second baseman Aaron Hill and outfielder Adam Eaton missing significant time. When they were out and the team needed someone to help them out through their scoring woes it was Goldschmidt.
He is the ultimate definition of a clutch player with him hitting 15 HRs when the game is tied. The All-Star first baseman also has a .309 average with a 1.012 OPS in innings 7-9. Goldschmidt has carried the team on offense for the whole season and without him they not even have a chance to be in this position for a spot in the post season.
He has turned into one of the best young all-round hitters in all of baseball. The one thing is surprising about him is that for a power hitter, he shows tremendous patience with him walking 88 times this season. He still has room to grow with him striking out 120 times and that will happen with more experience.
There are people that believe the MVP should come from a team that is going to be in the playoffs, like Andrew McCutchen of Pittsburgh Pirates or Clayton Kershaw of Los Angeles Dodgers. Those players are having tremendous seasons and are one of the reasons why those two teams are playing well this season.
However the award is about the player that means the most to their team and that is without a doubt Goldschmidt. In case you need more convincing on how much he means to the team, when Arizona wins he’s hitting .365 with a 1.194 OPS to include 24 HRs and 79 RBIs. When the team loses, he only has a .215 average that includes seven HRs and 25 RBI.
The success that he has when playing directly correlates to wins for Arizona. One more thing about Goldschmidt that has nothing to do with baseball is that he just earned his bachelor’s degree in management from the University of Phoenix.