D-backs’ Paul Goldschmidt on his cold, hot streaks early in season
Jun 13, 2018, 9:43 AM
Arizona Diamondbacks' Paul Goldschmidt runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run off Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Chad Bettis during the fourth inning of a baseball game Saturday, June 9, 2018, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt has been on a roller coaster this season and we aren’t even at the midway point of June yet.
After hitting just .144 in May, Goldschmidt has exploded in June for a .447 batting average in the first 11 games of the month.
That was good for a National League Player of the Week nod and he could have more before the month is done.
Goldschmidt joined 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station’s Doug & Wolf to discuss how he went through the process.
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“It’s not like just flipping a switch,” he said of his struggles.
“That’s just part of the game. There’s a lot of failures built in.”
The narrative being attached to not just Goldschmidt’s struggles, but the team’s issues at the plate was a new approach at the plate called tunneling.
Goldschmidt was sick of hearing about it.
“Yes, 100 percent,” he said to the question of if the approach was being made too big of a deal. “I think it’s just a new term for what some guys are already doing. It wasn’t really any more complicated than that.”
The month of May and a 14-for-97 showing at the plate is about as bad as it could get for Goldschmidt.
His mindset, however, allowed him to not be in a bad spot when he was away from the team during some of the worst baseball of his career.
“I think you guys and a lot of other people are just assuming that life was just miserable,” he said.”You got to keep it in perspective. We go out and play baseball.
“I make a really conscious effort to not think about baseball when I am away from the field.”
That’s part of what makes Goldschmidt such a great player, and if fans learned anything from his recent woes and resurgence, it’s that the 30-year-old can always be relied on to get out of a funk.
“There’s nothing you can do at home just sulking over an out or a bad game or an error,” he said. “That’s not going to help you play better the next day.”
