Aaron Boone is not concerned with what Paul Goldschmidt did last season.
Overall, 2024 was discouraging for the seven-time All-Star, who hit a career-worst .245/.302/.414 with 22 home runs and a career-low .716 OPS in 2024. Goldschmidt’s numbers have steadily declined after slashing .317/.404/.578 with a career-high .981 OPS with 35 home runs and winning the NL MVP in 2022.
The New York Yankees’ manager said the team expects the former National League MVP to have a bounce-back season in pinstripes this season.
“I think Goldie has a lot left,” Boone said on MLB Network’s “Hot Stove. ”I think he really figured some things out, and unlocked some things in the second half (of 2024). So I think he’s going to come over here and be great.”
Goldschmidt, 37, admitted he struggled through most of 2024. It was the worst season of his 15 years in the big leagues.
“I didn’t play well most of last year,” Goldschmidt said on a Zoom conference call after signing the one-year, $12.5 million deal with the Yankees.
The Yankees clearly bought into the idea that he had a little bounce back in the second half of the season. Goldschmidt hit .293 with a .842 OPS in his last 43 games. He attributed that uptick to some mechanical tweaks he made during the season.
Still, the Yankees won’t blindly bet $12.5 million on the hope that the uptick was Goldschmidt rediscovering himself.
Boone and the Yankees religiously monitor the workload of their veteran players. Goldschmidt has not played fewer than 151 games in the last four seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. In 2024, he played 154, which is unlikely with the Yankees.
A career .323/.424/.568 hitter against lefties, Boone will likely use super utility infielder Oswaldo Cabrera or DJ LeMahieu to give Goldschmidt days off against the right-handed pitchers he has struggled with in the past.
Considering the Yankees got the lowest offensive production of any MLB team at first base last season, Goldschmidt has a very good chance of being an upgrade.
