Thursday, April 19, 2012

Digging for Gold in the Desert

By Corey R. Cunningham
Arizona Diamondbacks 1B Paul Goldschmidt has been seeing the bench more than the field lately. Goldschmidt has been getting relieved by no one other than Lyle Overbay, yes, Lyle Overbay the long time Blue Jay and Pirate.

I thought off the bat, Overbay and Goldschmidt would flip-flop in the order pending who was on the mound. After Overbay got a start versus a left hander, I realized I was wrong. Goldschmidt had been benched the past 3 games, with receiving a pinch hitter award here as of late. Goldschmidt as of now has a K: AB rate of 1:3. I know this is not good, but Goldschmidt has to be better than Overbay.

I realize as a batter you need to lay off pitches and avoid striking out as much as possible, but then again, an out is an out right? If I get over powered by a 98 mph fastball with strike three, what is the difference if I hit a pop fly to third base with no one on. My point is, Overbay is not producing any better than Goldschmidt and I thought Goldschmidt was the future 1B for the Diamondbacks.

Goldschmidt holds a .200 BA, with 6 H, 4 R, 2 RBI and a HR. He does have 10 K, with 3 BB in 30 AB. He does have 2 multi hit games as well. Only appearing in 7 games thus far this season, with appearing 3 times as a pinch hitter, let’s not get carried away, especially since Chris Young just went out with a shoulder injury.

Overbay is hitting a measly .222 with 4 H, 2 R, 2 RBI, 3 K and 2 BB. Not exactly power numbers by any means for a guy who should be the backup and should only get occasionally appearances starting at 1B.

I was able to draft Goldschmidt in one of my leagues in the first round, and I was proud to draft him, I was in need of a dynasty 1B, and I thought he was it. I am a bit worried about him not starting, but I didn’t expect great average. However, Arizona is use to seeing guys with power, and who strikes out a lot (Mark Reynolds). I will continue to play Paul at my 1B position and you should too. If you have a better option right now, go with it, however, do not drop Goldschmidt.

1 comment:

  1. I too was a Goldschmidt fan come draft day. I had to re-evaluate my line-up yesterday in the one league I had him at CI. I proposed a trade of Goldschmidt and Javy Guerra for Aramis Ramirez. The trade was accepted. I still feel Goldy is a good long term Dynasty investment but I could not stomach the lack of playing time so far this season. With Gibson at the helm in Zona he may revert to playing veterans than rooks. Just something to think about.

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