clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Solid Gold(schmidt)

It's no exaggeration to say that Paul Goldschmidt destroyed the Los Angeles Dodgers single-handed this series, driving in nine of the 17 runs we scored, going 7-for-13 with four homers. Let's look at his performance in more detail.

Stephen Dunn

Date Opp Rslt PA AB R H HR RBI BB SO WPA
May 6 @ LAD W,9-2 5 5 1 4 1 3 0 1 17.6%
May 7 @ LAD W,5-3 5 4 1 1 1 3 1 1 40.8%
May 8 @ LAD W,3-2 4 4 2 2 2 3 0 0 54.0%
Total 13 13
4
7
4
9
1
2
112.4%

Home-runs: 4

The last Diamondback to homer in three consecutive road games, with an extra one for good measure, was Mark Reynolds from July 31-Aug 3, 2009 in New York against the Mets. Later in the same road-trip, Special K would also homer in each contest during the games in Washington.

Goldschmidt became the first Diamondback with game-tying and game-winning home-runs in the same contest, since May 20th, 2009, the night-cap of a double-header against the Marlins. There, Justin Upton had an early three-run shot which tied the game at four, then another three-run shot in the 13th which proved to be the margin of victory.

RBI: 9

Paul became the first Arizona batter ever to have three RBI in each part of a three-game series away from Chase. Reynolds and Steve Finley did have three RBI, three games in a row, but that wasn't against the same opponent, and also with home field advantage. Goldschmidt is the first National League batter with a home-run and three RBI in each game of a road series like this, since Sammy Sosa for the Cubs, from Aug 17-19, 1997. And since that was a) at Coors, and b) Sosa, it deserves a bloody huge asterisk.

WPA:112.4%

Back-to-back road games with 40%+ of Win Probability? Only done once before in D-backs history, when (again!) Reynolds did it Florida, in May 2009. You may remember the circumstances. The first was the same double-header game mentioned above in which Upton homered twice; Reynolds also had two home-runs that night, tying things up in the 7th and giving us a lead in the 12th, which was immediately blown by Chad Qualls, before J-Up rescued us. The following day, Mark's two-run shot in the eighth turned a deficit into the lead. Very Goldschmidtesque...

Ownership in LA: complete

Goldschmidt's numbers in Dodger Stadium have gone from "excessive" to "obscene". In 14 games there, he is now 21-for-54, with six home-runs, a line of .389/.468/.741, a 1.208 OPS. That has passed his figures at AT&T Park where, even with the help of Timmeh, his OPS is a mere 1.138. Say what you like, but you can't call Goldzilla the product of hitter-friendly Chase. His OPS on the road is 180 points better than it is in Phoenix, and there are seven parks where he has a 1.000 OPS or better for his career. He's even hit .991 in Petco.

All-Star status: warming

This morning. Goldschmidt trails only Joey Votto in fWAR among all major-league players at the position, and that's by a mere one-tenth of a point. Of course, the voting process all but guarantees he won't get to start, even though he has more than twice as many home-runs as Votto and a higher batting-average. But after Votto (1.6 fWAR) and Paul (1.5), the only player there with even one WAR is the Cubs' Anthony Rizzo, before a long drop to the likes of Yuniesky Betancourt, all the way down at 0.6. Goldschmidt was arguably overlooked in 2012 - Bryan LaHair, All-Star 1B last year, couldn't get a job in MLB this year - but the case this season looks increasingly water-tight.