Yankees expected a lot from Paul Goldschmidt. They’re getting even more

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NEW YORK — Of course, Austin Wells knew all about Paul Goldschmidt. The 25-year-old New York Yankees catcher grew up watching the 37-year-old first baseman. Wells knew about Goldschmidt’s seven All-Star selections, four Gold Gloves and the National League MVP award he bagged in 2022.

And while Wells expected Goldschmidt to be a positive addition to the club’s pregame hitters meetings, Wells has been blown away by his contributions.

“He’s very prepared,” Wells said recently. “He’s very focused. He always has something that he’s seen from recent outings that he’s reporting back on from watching video. Getting to hear a guy like that, who’s ‘X’ amount of years into playing baseball and still watching film and preparing to have success, it’s really cool. I don’t expect anything less from him because that’s just who he is in getting to know him more, and that’s what he does really.”

Friday night offered more examples of Goldschmidt giving the Yankees more than they expected when he crushed a home run and boosted his batting average to .361 in a 3-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees are 19-13 and lead the American League East by two games over the second-place Boston Red Sox. The Rays dropped to 14-18 — fourth place in the division.

Goldschmidt went 2-for-4, and his fifth-inning home run was responsible for all the Yankees’ scoring as starting pitcher Max Fried twirled seven scoreless innings. Devin Williams (eighth inning) and Luke Weaver (ninth inning) combined to finish it off.

Goldschmidt’s blast came on a high fly ball that dropped over the short porch in right field — a home run in just two other MLB ballparks (George M. Steinbrenner Field, Citizens Bank Park). It came off reliever Mason Montgomery’s 98.6 mph fastball in an 0-1 count with two outs, and it scored Jorbit Vivas (walk) and Aaron Judge (double).

Paul Goldschmidt hits a three-run shot 💪#YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/2idmi5nBcv

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) May 3, 2025

It was Goldschmidt’s third home run of the year. He’s second in MLB in batting average behind teammate Judge (.430).

“It’s been a good four or five weeks for me,” he said.

How about very good? Or excellent? Maybe awesome?

Entering Friday, Goldschmidt had a 153 wRC+. The statistic measures runs created and adjusts to league-average (100). Last season, Yankees first basemen Anthony Rizzo, D.J. LeMahieu and others combined for a lowly 71 wRC+ — the worst in the game.

Aaron Boone said that he expects Goldschmidt’s power numbers could jump, too.

“The home runs, those are things that are going to come in waves usually or bunches,” the manager said. “He’s going to hit his share out of the ballpark. But either way, I just want him to continue to focus on the quality of at-bat he’s giving right now. Another big night for him.”

Boone added that he wasn’t shocked that Goldschmidt still had the bat speed to catch up to a blazing fastball Friday night and put it in the seats.

“Part of that’s just being a smart hitter, too, and being prepared and knowing what you’re looking for in different situations,” he said. “I think that’s where his experience really pays off for him, coupled with the fact that, yes, he’s on the older side, of course. But he’s a specimen. He’s physical and still a lot of power and fast-twitch.”

“He’s always just a professional at-bat,” Fried said, “no matter whatever his numbers are, whatever day of the week. You know when he comes up to the plate, he’s going to give you his best, and you can’t take any pitches off.”

Goldschmidt’s contributions come after a disappointing 2024 in which he hit .245 with 22 home runs, 65 RBIs and a .716 OPS in 154 games for the St. Louis Cardinals. He was much better over the final two months of the season, however, posting a .800 OPS through his last 50 games.

The Yankees gave Goldschmidt a one-year, $12.5 million deal in the offseason, convinced that the changes he made to turn around his 2024 would lead to a better 2025.

“I think I just created some bad habits,” he said. “I almost had to be perfect swinging last year. It’s probably a little bit of an exaggeration, but I just struggled, and maybe I was just trying to get back to some of those basics. The bigger thing was trying to have success and just, last year, I knew that some of those changes I had been working on basically all of the year … I saw that if I could do that consistently, I could still play well. Coming into this year, it was just continuing to concentrate on those things, which is what I’ve tried to do my whole career.”

And it’s led to more than the Yankees expected. Still, Goldschmidt downplayed his hot start, which has included defense that has been good enough (-1 Outs Above Average).

“I know it sounds cliche, but I just keep reminding myself to have good at-bats … whether it’s home runs or singles or walks, or whatever,” he said.

(Photo: Dustin Satloff / Getty Images)

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