Paul Goldschmidt defies notion that baseball players decline after 30

The first baseman is holding up just fine.

When the St. Louis Cardinals traded and extended the contract for Paul Goldschmidt after the 2018 season, there were skeptics who questioned whether or not he could stay viable for the entire five year contract.

The first baseman had turned 31 during his last season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he broke into the league in 2011 and quickly became a perennial MVP candidate. A pure vacuum over at first base and a potent middle of the order bat, Goldschmidt’s quiet demeanor on and off the field only adds to his consummate professional reputation.

So, by being already over the age of 30, Goldschmidt didn’t exactly have the full trust of Cardinal Nation to hold up his end of the contract bargain. It’s safe to say that he has done just that and then some.

Last season, Goldschmidt recorded a 5.0 fWAR, something he did regularly with the Diamondbacks--including a 5.5 fWAR in 2017 and 5.0 fWAR in 2018. Now, if the previous suspicions were true and even the mightiest of baseball players can break down after 30, how in the heck was he doing this?

Quick answer: He’s a very good player who doesn’t rely on a league or particular field to do damage in. Goldschmidt is a lean but not mean baseball machine, someone who could very easily finish his career in St. Louis, thus creating a tale of two cities aspect to his career. When it’s all said and one, Goldschmidt could log more seasons in the Midwest than he did in the desert (eight seasons). Maybe. I bet he’ll hold up very well.

Attention, Cards and baseball fans: Every free agent isn’t going to be a Brett Cecil or Dexter Fowler type situation. A long-term signing that doesn’t work out, even if previous performance was a factor in the deal. Goldschmidt had to calibrate to the Lou in 2019, coming out of the gate slower than usual but still putting up a 3.4 fWAR. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he posted an impressive 2.3 fWAR, something he is close to passing already in 2022 with a 1.9 fWAR in just over seven weeks of games.

He’s well on pace to match or exceed his 2021 WAR, even as he gets closer and closer to turning 35 in September.

The impressive thing about Goldschmidt is his nonchalant form of production. For example, he can do a great job without much acclaim. As the Cards acquired Nolan Arenado and saw Tyler O’Neill and Harrison Bader enjoy breakout seasons, 2021’s unsung hero was Goldschmidt.

He’s the one who rocked a 137 wRC+, which measures a player’s performance against league and park average output. In 2020, the mark was up to 147. The average wRC+ is 100. That’s a well above average mark for an aging player.

Goldschmidt is the guy who hits over 30 home runs and scores over 100 runs, striking out over 130 times but walking over 60 times. In 2021, his walk rate dropped slightly but so did his strikeout rate. He won his fourth Gold Glove and also stole 12 out of 13 bases. What doesn’t Goldschmidt do? Hit left-handed, but I won’t hold that against him or challenge his bat to suddenly adapt.

He’s the real deal, a fortress of trusted baseball solitude for a first time manager. Oliver Marmol’s job is made significantly easier by having players like Goldschmidt around--someone who could DH or play first base, and do plenty of damage.

Look at last night’s game. If the Cardinals find a way to lose to Toronto, the three-game losing streak mounted in Pittsburgh over the weekend is destroyed, and a homestand gets off on the wrong foot. The Blue Jays aren’t a bad team, and the division-rival Brewers will be in town this weekend to give the N.L. Central race a diagnostic check.

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Goldschmidt’s response to a 3-3 game in the bottom of the tenth with the bases loaded was to eliminate all doubt. He sent a screaming line drive into the left field seats, a blast that Matt Holliday could appreciate. It left the pitcher’s hand and exploded off the bat in what seemed like three seconds, giving St. Louis a 7-3 win and a four-game winning streak.

When they traded for him, the idea was to eliminate all doubt about who was the first baseman. Ever since Albert Pujols first left town, the position was a constantly moving name tag. Goldschmidt, like Arenado after him, sealed the position shut. He catches everything, including the crap thrown into the dirt or low. Again, he’s a vacuum. Without him, the defense falls apart and loses its elite status. Arenado can be the greatest living third baseman-nine Gold Gloves in nine seasons-but it’s meaningless if the first baseman can’t catch or stop anything.

Goldschmidt, more than anyone else and that includes #4, completes this team more right now. He’s the safety valve, the surefire producer who heats up as the weather does the same. However, even on a cool spring night, he can still launch a baseball. He can do that because he hits well at home and away from Busch. He destroys lefties, but can also hit righties as well.

Via Fangraphs, he has collected as many hits to the opposite field as he does to left. That’s the sign of a consistently strong hitter, one who doesn’t cost his team much on defense. Fun Fact: Goldschmidt’s current Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) is -1. That’s the first time you can find a negative mark on his glove, and that’s just one stat.

Another Fun Fact: The year Goldschmidt came in also happened to be Pujols’ final year in St. Louis before he signed with the Angels. Now, the two play side by side. Just another reason that baseball can still tell a great story while having a sense of humor.

St. Louis traded for Goldschmidt because he is such a steady presence, one that hasn’t expired yet well into his 30s.

P.S. If it wasn’t for his grand slam, the city of St. Louis and its sports world would have been particularly depressed after seeing Stan Kroenke’s Colorado Avalanche defeat the Blues, 6-3.