St. Louis Cardinals superstar Paul Goldschmidt is having an underwhelming 2021 campaign.
The 33-year-old is batting just .249 on the year with a .725 OPS.
Goldschmidt really made a name for himself during his eight-year stint with the Arizona Diamondbacks, but he is having to re-earn his stripes with his new club.
Are his recent struggles worth worrying about, or is there an argument to be made that Goldschmidt is overrated?
If there is, you won’t find it here.
Goldschmidt has deserved all of his praise throughout his career.
Here’s why.
3. He Has Never Finished A Season With A Below-Average OPS+
Many fans like OPS+ as their statistic of choice.
Quick tangent: The traditional OPS statistic is great, but it does have one major flaw.
The formula treats on-base percentage and slugging percentage as if both statistics are calculated on the same scale.
In reality, one percentage point in the context of on-base percentage is more valuable than one percentage point in the context of slugging percentage, so merely adding the two stats together creates the imperfect statistic we know as OPS.
OPS+ accounts for that flaw and also adjusts for ballpark dimensions.
For all of those reasons, it’s arguably one of the better hitting statistics available to fans, and Goldschmidt does very well in this category.
League-average for the stat is always set to 100, and Goldschmidt has finished every season of his MLB career with an OPS+ well above 100.
For his career, he has a 140 OPS+, which is 40 percent better than league-average.
Even this year, in a campaign where the veteran is struggling, he has still managed to stay afloat with a 106 OPS+.
Goldschmidt always seems to find a way to be a net positive offensively.
2. His Success Has Carried Over To The Postseason
We haven’t seen a ton of Goldschmidt in the postseason, but his Cardinals did crack the playoffs in both 2019 and 2020.
Including his time with the Diamondbacks, Goldschmidt has appeared in 20 career postseason games.
His results have been outstanding.
He is a lifetime .280 hitter in the playoffs with a .971 OPS, eight home runs, and five doubles.
Paul Goldschmidt got the scoring started in the 2017 NL Wild Card game with this first-inning three-run tater.
The #DBacks eventually won the slugfest, 11-8. #RattleOn #postseason (via MLB/YT) pic.twitter.com/Pb3I0RzcF7
— MLB Daily Dingers (@MLBDailyDingers) October 1, 2020
This comes as no surprise to many fans, as Goldschmidt has never struggled in big moments.
Throughout his career, he has managed a slash line of .298/.406/.557 in high-leverage situations.
The six-time All-Star is a very underrated clutch hitter.
1. His Track Record Doesn’t Lie
Goldschmidt has a long list of career accolades.
He is a six-time All-Star, a four-time Silver Slugger, a three-time Gold Glover, and a seven-time MVP vote-getter (including two runner-up finishes).
In fact, Goldschmidt has received MVP votes in each of the past six seasons.
He always seems to be in the conversation for the award, and it’s easy to understand why.
Just take a look at his season-by-season statistics.
He has had five seasons with at least 30 home runs, five seasons with an OPS of .900 or better, and five seasons with a WAR of 5.0 or better.
Paul Goldschmidt's 470 ft HR is the longest by a @Cardinals player since 2019. pic.twitter.com/RRBg13iHI2
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) June 26, 2021
For his career, Goldschmidt averages a WAR of 5.4 per 162 games.
That’s a superstar-caliber watermark.
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