Paul Goldschmidt: A name to know

With a glut of players in front of him on the big league roster to start the year (Xavier Nady, Russell Branyan, Juan Miranda), it didn't look like the D-backs would get any significant contribution from Goldschmidt during the campaign.

That certainly didn't turn out to be the case.

After terrorizing Southern League pitching for 30 home runs in just 457 plate appearances, Goldschmidt joined the D-backs after the club selected his contract from Mobile on August 1, and the former 8th round draft pick did the most with his opportunity.

In his second big league game, Goldschmidt hit a mammoth 2-run homer off of two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum in a 6-1 win over the San Francisco Giants.

The powerful rookie would go on to hit 8 home runs in 156 at bats, and had a memorable grand slam in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers.

All of it leads to big expectations for Goldschmidt in 2011, both from the Diamondbacks and national pundits alike. One writer, Paul White of USA Today, has placed Goldschmidt at number ten on his Countdown of the 100 Names You Need to Know for the 2012 baseball season.

Says White:

His power is impressive, and he didn't disappoint with particularly long homers after his promotion to the majors. He'll be the starting first baseman — with Lyle Overbay around for insurance — but the key question for Goldschmidt is how he adapts to how he's pitched. He's a big-swing guy who drastically reduced his strikeout rate in the minors last year, then struck out 53 times in 177 plate appearance for Arizona.

Goldschmidt was the only Diamondback to appear on White's 100-player list.