TAMPA — Again when Aaron Boone labored for ESPN, he grew to become properly acquainted together with his new first baseman whereas residing in the identical Arizona neighborhood.
“When he was first having kids and my kids were little rugrats running around the park, Paul Goldschmidt, [then] with the Diamondbacks, used to step out and play a little bit with them,” a smiling Boone stated Tuesday.
That was about 10 years in the past, when Goldschmidt would have been 27 years outdated and dealing on the third of six consecutive All-Star seasons. Now 37, he has reconnected with Boone after signing a one-year, $12.5 million contract with the Yankees in December.
Not in his prime, Goldschmidt is coming off the worst season of his profession in St. Louis. Whereas he gained his solely MVP award in 2022, some end-of-season mechanical points in 2023 bled into 2024. That resulted in career-worsts throughout his slash line (.245/.302/.414), as properly his wRC+ (100), final 12 months.
“The truth was I just didn’t play well for over a year and a good part of last year,” stated Goldschmidt, who totaled 22 homers and 65 RBI over 154 video games in 2024. “It was unfortunate. It wasn’t for a lack of effort. I was doing everything I could, took a ton of swings and all that. But this game’s hard, the pitchers are good, and if you get off by a little bit, it can go downhill. So hopefully it will be a good thing in my career, getting to learn from that.”
The silver lining in Goldschmidt’s final marketing campaign: he made some mechanical and psychological changes, which led to a .271 common and .799 OPS within the second half.
Now he and the Yankees are hoping that these tweaks result in a bounce-back season.
“He’s in impeccable shape,” Boone stated. “He’s a baseball gym rat. He’s out there working on different things in the field right now, little things that we think can help him. So he drinks up baseball. He really wants to be coached, wants to be pushed, wants to learn little things that he can apply to his game.
“I’m really excited about him.”
The plan is for the right-handed Goldschmidt to be the Yankees’ on a regular basis first baseman. He’s performed in at the least 151 video games yearly since 2015 — excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 season — making him one of many extra reliable gamers within the sport from a well being perspective.
However as Father Time will get ahold of Goldschmidt, may the Yankees reduce his workload with a purpose to maximize no matter manufacturing his bat has left?
Boone stated, “We’ll see.”
“I’m not going to go in with that necessarily,” the supervisor continued. “I’ll certainly talk through that with him as we go. But I’m not married to anything right now.”
Ought to the Yankees determine to spell Goldschmidt right here and there, Cody Bellinger is one various possibility at first. Nonetheless, Boone plans on utilizing the 29-year-old as his on a regular basis heart fielder.
The Yankees acquired Bellinger and $5 million from the Cubs for Cody Poteet in December. The deal marked a homecoming of types, as Bellinger used to tag alongside when his father, Clay, performed for the Yankees from 1999-2001.
Due to his dad and mom’ camcorder, Bellinger has loads of reminiscences of following the Bombers round and residing in New York. He additionally has a big assortment of his dad’s Yankees gear, although he’s now settling into his personal pinstripes.
Bellinger burst onto the scene in 2017, profitable Rookie of the 12 months with the Dodgers earlier than taking residence his personal MVP trophy after hitting a career-high 47 homers in 2019. Nonetheless, Bellinger went on to endure quite a few accidents and down years earlier than being non-tendered by Los Angeles after the 2022 season.
He spent the previous two seasons with the Cubs, slashing .286/.340/.475 with 44 homers, 175 RBI and a 122 wRC+. Bellinger had a stronger season in 2023, however he was stable in 2024, hitting .266/.325/.426 with 18 homers, 78 RBI and a 109 wRC+.
With the good thing about experiencing quite a few highs and lows, Boone is hoping Bellinger can “make for some magic” this season.
“This is a guy in the prime of his career,” Boone stated. “He’s been through a lot already in his career, made some nice adjustments, an outstanding two-way player. Brings a ton of defensive value, defensive versatility, really good baserunner.
“I’m confident that he’s going to elevate our club.”
Whereas Bellinger is now not the ability hitter he as soon as was, Boone additionally believes that Yankee Stadium’s quick right-field porch will profit the newcomer’s left-handed swing.
Bellinger has pulled the ball at a forty five% clip all through his profession, and he’s hit flyballs 44.3% of the time. Bellinger’s pull price was 42.6% in 2024, his lowest since his rookie 12 months, however his flyball price was 46.1%.
With a straightforward goal to shoot for within the Bronx, don’t be shocked if Bellinger makes a concerted effort to extend his Pull%.
“When he was hitting a ton of home runs and had a different profile and was MVP, he pulled the ball in the air,” Boone stated. “As he’s got more contact-oriented, gone through some injury stuff, that’s still his profile. He pulls the ball in the air, which is going to serve him well in our ballpark. So we think that’s going to play up.”
Regardless of Goldschmidt’s age and poor 2024 and Bellinger’s injury-related inconsistencies, the Yankees are clearly bullish on the duo as they plot a Juan Soto-less lineup.
Workforce proprietor Hal Steinbrenner not too long ago remarked that the 2 may make up for a “good deal” of Soto’s offense after the Mets’ new famous person loved a profession 12 months with the Yankees in 2024, however that definitely gained’t be straightforward.
ZiPS, a preferred participant projection mannequin discovered on FanGraphs, predicts Goldschmidt will hit .250/.325/.437 with 23 homers, 81 RBI, a 116 wRC+ and a pair of.2 WAR in 2025.
Bellinger is predicted to slash .264/.322/.442 with 20 homers, 81 RBI, a 113 wRC+ and three.0 WAR.
For comparability, Soto is projected to hit .277/.426/.521 with 33 homers, 100 RBI, a 166 wRC+ and 6.5 WAR in his first season with the Mets.
“What he provided was very special,” Boone stated of Soto, however the skipper added, “There’s a lot of ways to build an outstanding team.”
Truthful or not, Bellinger and Goldschmidt are being checked out as Soto’s replacements, at the least when it comes to offensive manufacturing. Nonetheless, the duo is making an attempt to keep away from such comparisons.
Slightly, they’re simply centered on their very own video games because the Yankees try to show again the clock.
“For me and Paul, it’s not necessarily replacing anybody, but coming in and performing to our best capability,” Bellinger stated. “We know what our best capability is. If we reach those levels, then I think that it could be fun.”
