Yankees’ Paul Goldschmidt sought advice from an old fan favorite. It paid off

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SEATTLE — Remember the Matt Carpenter era?

There was a time in 2022 when Carpenter ruled the Bronx. The lefty slugger, with his black handlebar mustache and double wristbands, had a career renaissance in New York Yankees pinstripes, hitting .305 with 15 home runs and a 1.138 OPS in 47 games before a foul ball off the foot ended his regular season in August.

Carpenter announced his retirement Wednesday. And his name was brought up in the context of the Yankees following a 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park.

After Paul Goldschmidt crushed a pinch hit solo shot to tie the game at 2-2 in the seventh inning, he credited Carpenter for giving him advice on how to come off the bench.

“I know at the end of his career, he pinch hit a lot, and (he) and I are really good friends, and (he’s) also a guy who had played every day,” Goldschmidt said

Manager Aaron Boone had wanted to give Goldschmidt, 37, the day off. But Boone sent him to the plate for Ben Rice to lead off the seventh. Goldschmidt wasted no time, blasting a first-pitch fastball from reliever Gabe Speier for a 377-foot, 107-mph home run that approached the left-field foul pole.

Paul Goldschmidt TIES the game! 💥

Watch on YES & The Gotham Sports App: https://t.co/sWMqNZ0hci pic.twitter.com/z91pByxBUl

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) May 14, 2025

Goldschmidt said he also reached out to Turner Ward, who was his hitting coach at points with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the St. Louis Cardinals. Ward also pinch hit often in his 12-year MLB career.

The most important advice Goldschmidt received from Carpenter?

Prepare.

“The main thing was, be ready for it,” Goldschmidt said. “Don’t be surprised, whether if that’s just getting ready physically and mentally. Just not thinking, ‘Oh, well, I’m not going to play today.’ It was, ‘Hey, yeah, I’m going to get an opportunity late in the game,’ and mentally doing that. As the game is kind of building in the second (inning), third, fourth, fifth, getting your body ready.”

Goldschmidt also learned that it wouldn’t be smart to overdo it in the batting cage before the pinch hit opportunity. He said he was told to keep to his daily routine but to delay it a few hours.

“Just shows you the knowledge and the preparation he has,” said Aaron Judge, who hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning. “He was ready to go from the very first pitch and he put a great swing on it.”

Boone said Goldschmidt appears to be “always ready” to hit.

“I think he even relishes it a little bit on those days, so if you can get him into a good matchup?” Boone said. “He goes up there, first pitch, (and) he doesn’t miss it.”

Judge hits ‘heavy’ home run

The home run almost looked pedestrian. It went out on a line drive. Boone told Judge that it looked like the kind of liner that would have one-hopped the wall if he had hit it during his own playing career. But the drive was anything but pedestrian.

“That ball was covered,” Boone said.

Judge’s solo shot went a whopping 444 feet and traveled at 117.7 mph — his hardest-hit home run of the season and the second hardest-hit homer in the majors this year, behind a 117.9 mph blast from the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani.

It came on a meatball of a pitch — an 88.7 mph hanging slider from righty reliever Carlos Vargas. It clanked off the scoreboard about 20 feet over the wall in left-center field.

“That was heavy,” Boone said. “That ball was hit really heavy.”

Goldschmidt was flabbergasted.

“I don’t even know,” he said. “He’s just doing so many amazing things. They’re not making many mistakes and when they do, he makes them pay. He’s so great all over the field. Great on defense. Great in this clubhouse. Obviously a great hitter. It’s just fun and love playing with him.”

Judge is leading the majors in batting average (.412), home runs (15), RBIs (41), on-base percentage (.497) and OPS (1.279).

“Every time he comes up,” starting pitcher Will Warren said, “I think he’s going to hit a home run. It’s crazy. But he puts in the hard work. He shows up as the same guy every day and I think that’s why he gets the results that he does.”

ALL RISE❕ 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/tc25puOop2

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) May 14, 2025

Warren turning a corner?

Will Warren’s first six starts: 5.63 ERA. His last three: 2.12 ERA.

It helped that he gave up two earned runs over five innings, striking out a career-high nine Wednesday. He walked just one and surrendered four hits. He got 10 swings and misses, including five on his curveball, and his fastball averaged 93.3 mph. His slider was also impressive.

Warren struck out five of the first six batters he faced.

“I try to just stay pitch to pitch but definitely gives me a little bit of confidence heading into the third inning and just trying to go dominate,” he said.

Will Warren’s 2Ks in the 1st. pic.twitter.com/ZBfEwEDd6z

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 14, 2025

Warren said his key was getting ahead early in counts.

“That’s what I love to see,” Judge said. “He had a great outing for us in Oakland. Impressive. Just pounding the strike zone. Even here, feel like the same thing, feel like his curveball and sweeper were really on today, he had a good feeling for them. They looked really sharp.”

Warren ranked as the Yankees’ No. 12 prospect on Keith Law’s preseason top 20 list. He’s 2-2 with a 4.61 ERA in nine starts so far.

“Thought his stuff was really good,” Boone said. “They took a lot of good at-bats, but he was able to punch out a lot of guys. He was getting ahead really well. Deeper counts, though. Took him a while to put some guys away at different times. So, they made him work. But I thought, stuff-wise, overall (he was) really good.”

(Photo of Goldschmidt, right, after his home run: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)

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