How Paul Goldschmidt rediscovered his MVP form with the Yankees: Inside the veteran first baseman’s resurgence

The first-base musical chairs began the week before Christmas. Christian Walker broke the seal when he agreed to a $60 million contract with the Astros on Dec. 20. The next day, Carlos Santana returned to the Guardians, who then turned around and traded Josh Naylor to the Diamondbacks (Walker’s former team) a few hours later. The day after that, the Rangers shipped Nathaniel Lowe to the Nationals. Texas had brought in Jake Burger earlier in the offseason.

During that busy week of first-base transactions, the New York Yankees agreed to a deal with seven-time All-Star Paul Goldschmidt as part of their Plan B pivot following Juan Soto’s defection to the Mets. First came the Max Fried signing, then came the Devin Williams and Cody Bellinger trades, then it was the Goldschmidt signing on Dec. 21. The modest $12.5 million contract was not the most exciting move, especially so soon after Soto left, but it has proven to be one of the offseason’s biggest bargains.

“Getting to see it up close and personal, it’s been really impressive,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said about Goldschmidt back on May 2. “He’s been so consistent. He’s given us that really good, tough, consistent at-bat in any situation. That’s been really good to see here.”

Going into Wednesday night’s series finale with the Angels, Goldschmidt was hitting .343/.399/.490 with five home runs this season, and that was split almost evenly into an .878 OPS in April and a .906 OPS in May. New York’s first-base production was among the worst in baseball the last few years, largely because of Anthony Rizzo’s decline. This is a team that started utility man Jon Berti at first base three times last postseason. Compared to New York’s 2023-24 first basemen, Goldschmidt looks like peak Lou Gehrig.

“That’s a good question. I don’t really have an answer,” Goldschmidt joked when asked about what’s fueling his resurgence this past weekend. “I don’t really think about it too much. I just try to have a good at-bat.”

Now 37, Goldschmidt is coming off a career-worst year with the Cardinals, one in which he hit .245/.302/.414 with 22 home runs and a career-worst 26.5% strikeout rate, and his highest ground ball rate in almost a decade. More strikeouts, more ground balls, and less production are classic signs of an aging player in decline. There were reasons — valid ones — to be skeptical of Goldschmidt coming into 2025. Instead, he’s rebounded and become an indispensable member of the AL East’s top team.

“I’m a pretty simple hitter. I just wasn’t consistently doing that last year,” Goldschmidt said when he was introduced as the newest Yankee over the winter. “I was very honest with a lot of the media in St. Louis and anyone else who asked that. I was just not performing well, but I think the good part of that is I was able to learn from it and make those adjustments and be ready to go this year.”

Goldschmidt has been so productive this season that an eighth career All-Star Game selection is possible, if not likely. He’s been excellent at the plate and he brings more to the table than just offense too. Here’s how Goldschmidt has rebounded from his career-worst season in 2024 and became one of the most important Yankees in 2025.

1. More line drives, but not more hard contact

Goldschmidt is one of several Yankees using the new torpedo bats. How much do they factor into his great season? That’s hard to say. We’re still learning about those things and what sort of impact they have on the game. What we do know is that Goldschmidt’s exit velocity and overall hard-hit ability is currently the worst of his career, but he’s also hitting the ball on a line more often.

Here are the numbers the last few years:

Sweet-spot rate is a handy little stat that tells us how often a player hits a ball in the 8-32 degree launch angle range. That is ideal. If you’re below 8 degrees, you’re putting the ball on the ground. Above 32 degrees and you’re hitting the kind of high fly balls that usually do not leave the ballpark and instead hang up long enough for an outfielder to catch.

Goldschmidt has been in that ideal 8-32 degree range often this year and it shows in his line drive rate, which is the same concept, only it weeds out some of the higher fly balls. Batted balls in the sweet-spot range have produced a .573 batting average and 1.019 slugging percentage this season. It is the best possible launch angle and Goldschmidt has lived there plenty.

So, despite the decline in exit velocity and overall hard-hit ability, Goldschmidt is getting better results because the exit velocity he does produce is on a line more often. His expected batting average is .305. His expected slugging percentage is .505. Those are based on a combination of exit velocity, launch angle, and the like. Goldschmidt is not wildly outperforming his contact.

Furthermore, his strikeout rate is down to a career-low 15.5%, better than even his 2022 MVP season, and he’s making contact close to 90% of the time when he swings at a pitch in the zone. His career rate is closer to 81%. The MLB average is 85.7%. Goldschmidt’s bat speed is identical to last season, when it was above average. He is swinging no less hard while making more contact.

Do I expect Goldschmidt to hit .343 all season? No, I do not. Very few players do that. Look under the hood though and there are some reasons to believe he can be an above-average hitter all year. He’s making more contact and hitting the ball on a line more often, possibly even sacrificing exit velocity to do so. Is it the torpedo bat effect? Beats me, but it’s happening, and it’s working.

2. The Yankees are giving him plenty of rest

Speaking from experience, getting old stinks. Everything hurts and it takes longer for everything to feel better. Baseball players are human too and they experience the same thing. Now that he’s in his late 30s, Goldschmidt is getting more days off, certainly more than he would get earlier in his career. It’s all part of the Yankees’ effort to keep him healthy and productive all season.

“For most of my career, I was playing every day,” Goldschmidt said earlier this month (via MLB.com). “… Coming here, it’s a little bit of a different role. I’ve just tried to embrace that. It was exciting for something new.”

Goldschmidt has started 46 of New York’s 54 games at first base, plus another two at DH. Eight times he’s been either off his feet as the DH or completely out of the lineup. With the Cardinals last season, Goldschmidt started 51 of their first 54 games at first base, plus one more at DH. Only twice times was he out of the starting lineup entirely. Last year’s splits were pretty significant:

“Games after an off-day” includes games after a team off-day, a day on the bench for Goldschmidt, a rainout, whatever. Whenever he was in the lineup the day after not playing for any reason. Goldschmidt was much more productive when he had a day to rest. This year he’s hit three of his five homers immediately after an off-day, and a fourth was a pinch-hit homer in a game he didn’t start.

Goldschmidt is at his best when he’s rested, so the Yankees have given him more rest this year. They can do this because of their depth. They have six players (Bellinger, Goldschmidt, Jasson Domínguez, Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge, and Ben Rice) for three outfield spots, first base, and DH. Judge is always in the lineup, so it’s really five players for two outfield spots, first base, and DH.

One of those five non-Judge players is out of the lineup every single night. That’s just how the math works. That depth has allowed the Yankees to give Goldschmidt regular off-days (usually against a hard-throwing righty) without sacrificing offense. Rice has been very good this year and steps in capably at first base. Bellinger’s had a terrific May and can also play first base when needed.

With veteran players who are closer in age to 40 than 30, less is often more. It’s a difficult balance: Goldschmidt has been so productive that Boone and the Yankees don’t want to take him out of the lineup but the additional rest serves him and ultimately the team well. Simply put, the Yankees are putting Goldschmidt in position to succeed by not asking too much of him.

3. He contributes with his defense and baserunning too

When the time comes, Goldschmidt will be a fascinating Hall of Fame case. He’s been an excellent hitter throughout his 15-year career and also a terrific defender and baserunner. That last part is easy to overlook. Goldschmidt is 4 for 4 stealing bases this season and 48 for his last 50 over the last several years. He’s also adept at going first to third, taking the extra base, etc.

Goldschmidt is a standout defender particularly around the bag. He’s great at scooping low throws and at making chest-high flips to the pitcher covering the bag. He also still has range at age 37 too. More than a few times this year, Goldschmidt has ranged to his right to make a diving stop, and then completed the play with a throw to the pitcher at first. He plays defense younger than his age.

For the Yankees, Goldschmidt’s defense and baserunning have been a breath of fresh air. Rizzo’s defense and baserunning had deteriorated the last few years, and others who filled at first base (Berti, Oswaldo Cabrera, etc.) were inexperienced, and it often showed. The improvement two months into the season has been drastic:

Dead average in baserunning — that’s 0.0 runs above average for all baserunning contributions (steals, advancing on wild pitches, etc.) — is a huge improvement for the Yankees, as is simply catching the ball. Far too many routine plays at first base were adventurous the last few years. The routine is routine again thanks to Goldschmidt.

This is a theme across the board for the Yankees, who have defended much better this year, particularly on the right side of the field (right field, first base, second base), and also run the bases better. They also have more speed, not that Goldschmidt is a burner. He makes up for his lack of speed (33rd percentile sprint speed) with baserunning smarts though. You can be slow but still play fast.

First base is an offense-first position, though the Yankees did need to improve all the little things in their game as well. We saw it in the World Series last year. They needed to get better defensively and at running the bases. The gave up way too much on the margins. Goldschmidt, as much as anyone the Yankees brought in over the winter, has helped them defensively and on the bases.

Relying on older players who begin the year exceptionally well is dicey. It is a long, long season, and players get worn down and become less productive. It could happen with Goldschmidt. If it does, the Yankees will deal with it. It is worth noting last year the opposite happened. Goldschmidt finished well very in August and September after a sluggish start to the season.

For now, Goldschmidt has been one of the most productive first basemen in the game this year. That production is in the bank and has helped the AL East-leading Yankees win a lot of games. He was almost an afterthought during that week of first base moves in December and as part of New York’s post-Soto Plan B, but Goldschmidt has been as productive as any Yankee other than Judge this season, and more impactful than any first baseman who changed teams over the winter.

“It’s just quality at-bats every day,” Boone said about Goldschmidt earlier this month (via MLB.com). “It’s elevating our hitting room and culture. He’s killed lefties, obviously. But he’s a real polished hitter that knows how to play the game.”