Tuesday a highlight of Paul Goldschmidt’s spectacular season
Aug 21, 2013, 4:35 PM | Updated: 4:35 pm
A lot has gone right for Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt this year.
The 25-year-old garnered a five-year, $32 million contract extension before the season began, got his first All-Star nod and became known as “America’s First Baseman.” He has led the National League in both home runs and runs batted in for the better part of the 2013 season.
And with a mammoth home run on Tuesday versus the Cincinnati Reds, Goldschmidt became the first Diamondbacks player to ever hit three grand slams in a season, while joining the likes of Luis Gonzalez, Matt Williams, Jay Bell, Steve Finley and Mark Reynolds as the organization’s only players to ever compile 30 home runs and 100 RBI in a single season.
Moreover, Goldschmidt tied the club’s single-season record for RBI by a first baseman, also held by Adam Laroche, with his eighth-inning grand slam, which earned him RBIs no. 97, 98, 99 and 100.
Only Matt Williams and Luis Gonzalez have reached the 100-RBI mark sooner as a Diamondback, doing so in 1999 and 2001, respectively. Williams had 109 RBI on August 20, 1999 while Gonzalez had 115 on August 20, 2001.
Goldschmidt is the first Diamondbacks player to join the 30 home run, 100 RBI club since Mark Reynolds did it back in 2009.
He holds the NL lead in RBI, tallying eight more than Reds’ All-Star Brandon Phillips, and he is tied for the league lead in home runs with the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Pedro Alvarez.
At his current pace, the brawny slugger will finish the season with 41 home runs and 131 RBI. And, technically, he’s also on pace to finish with 3.92 grand slams, so if you’re rounding up…
When compared to recent years, such an output most closely resembles Josh Hamilton’s 2012 season, when the then Texas Rangers outfielder accrued 43 home runs and 128 RBI en route to a third-place finish in American League MVP voting.
Except, as on Tuesday, most of Goldschmidt’s home runs and RBI have come in the final third of Diamondbacks games — something Hamilton of 2012 couldn’t boast at all.
The Diamondbacks have 38 regular season games left to play in what has already been a magical year for the new face of their franchise.
