The New York Yankees have served as one of baseball’s best offenses this season and there are some reasons to be surprised.
Even by his own strong standards, franchise slugger Aaron Judge has been outstanding this year. He leads the majors in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and total hits as he enjoys a career-best campaign. And the batting order around him has managed to replace Juan Soto as veteran additions like Cody Bellinger and young contributors like Jazz Chisholm Jr. step up.
But perhaps the nicest surprise has been Paul Goldschmidt, who agreed to join the Yankees on a one-year contract for this season after seeming to fade from his Most Valuable Player Award winning form with the St. Louis Cardinals.
In his 15th Major League Baseball season, Goldschmidt is slashing .298/.358/.447 — numbers that mark a significant boost from recent years. And at age 37, the first baseman also played a surprising role for the Yankees for the first time in his career on Sunday.
“Paul Goldschmidt has done a lot in what’s been a 15-year career in the majors, but Sunday’s pinch-running appearance was a first for him — and he made it worthwhile,” according to Dan Martin of the New York Post. “The 37-year-old came all the way around to score from first on Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s one-out double, which put the Yankees up for the first time.”
Goldschmidt isn’t seen as particularly quick on the basepaths, but he is savvy and experienced, which made him manager Aaron Boone’s choice for the situation against the Baltimore Orioles. Goldschmidt was sitting for the second straight game as the Yankees try to find at-bats for Giancarlo Stanton and Ben Rice and was called on to pinch run in the bottom of the eighth.
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“This is a guy in his late 30s, probably going to the Hall of Fame, he isn’t playing and he’s probably gonna go to the All-Star Game and he’s willing to do that,’’ Boone said of the pinch running, per Martin. “That’s humility. That is who he is.”
As Goldschmidt enjoys a resurgent season with the Yankees, there’s no telling what he might be willing to do next.
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