Goldy’s hits coming, but his steals are lagging
ATLANTA – Despite a brutal May, Paul Goldschmidt managed to get his numbers up to their usual range, to the point that he’ll be in Washington D.C. this week for the All-Star Game. But one category still lags behind the others: stolen bases.
Goldschmidt has only three steals and just five attempts, leaving him well off his pace from the past three years, in which he has stolen 18, 32 and 21 bases, respectively.
The reason for the dropoff, Goldschmidt says, is simple: Teams are more alert when he’s on base. This probably began, he said, around this time last year. He went into the All-Star break in 2017 with 13 steals in 17 attempts, but had had only six attempts over his final 67 games last season.
“We’re definitely looking for opportunities,” Goldschmidt said. “But I think the teams know, with how much we’ve stolen and myself individually, that they’re playing closer attention than maybe a few years ago.”
Goldschmidt is 30, but he doesn’t appear to have lost much running speed. His sprint speed in 2015, the first year such data is available via Statcast, was 27.5 feet per second. It was 27.3 in 2016, 26.8 in 2017 and 27.0 this year.
“I don’t think I’ve gotten slower or become a worse baserunner, it just depends on what the game calls for you to do,” Goldschmidt said. “I’m not looking to get to a certain number of stolen bases. It’s just, is it the time of the game, with the pitcher and catcher and everything, that calls for you having a good chance of getting to the next base? If it is, then you can try to go.”
Money matters
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said he wonders just how much infielder Ketel Marte’s contract extension might have played into his slow start, comparing the evolution of a player to a series of graduations.
“Playing and deserving a contract and getting that contract is a new thing,” Lovullo said. “It takes a little bit of time to get used to that. So, perhaps. I never talked to him about it, nor will I. But I know he’s an established major leaguer that’s now finally playing the game the way he should.”
Marte, who signed a five-year, $24 million deal in late March, hit .216 through the first two months of the season but has slashed .269/.347/.585 over the past six weeks.
Dad time
Lovullo said he is planning to head to Binghamton, N.Y., during the All-Star break to watch his son, Nick, who plays for the Boston Red Sox Double-A affiliate in Portland, Maine.
Lovullo said this will be his first time watching him play in more than year.
“I’m going to put a hat and sunglasses on and be a dad for a few days,” Lovullo said. “That’s always a really nice time for me.”