As it stands right now, Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is the likely front runner for the National League MVP, as at the age of 34. He is putting up career numbers all across the board. With his elite level of play in 2022, Goldschmidt has finally been getting the recognition he deserves, and as great as that is, it shouldn’t have taken this long to get said recognition. Between the Diamondbacks and Cardinals, Paul Goldschmidt has been elite offensively while also being one of the best defensive first baseman since he made his debut in 2011. Not only has Paul Goldschmidt been arguably the best first basemen since his debut, but he has made a very strong case for the Hall of Fame during this span.

MVP 2022

Through 90 games, these are the MVP caliber numbers Goldschmidt has put up:

391 PA

.330/.414/.590

184 wRC+ (263 wRC+ w/ RISP)

.429 wOBA

12.0 BB%

21.2 K%

0.57 BB/K

.260 ISO

1.9 BsR

0 DRS

-5 OAA

3.47 WPA

4.5 fWAR

Here is how Goldschmidt compares to the other NL MVP contenders:

It’s clear from all of this that Goldschmidt’s defense is the only thing preventing there being no discussion as to who the MVP favorite is. Despite his poor defense though, no other player in the national league is anywhere close to Goldschmidt offensively which is why he so far deserves the National League MVP.

Two things have led Goldschmidt to having a career year at the age of 34, one of which being an increase in hitting the ball in the air. Despite Goldschmidt being one of the best hitters in baseball since his debut, he always had a problem--hitting too many ground balls. From 2011-2018 had a 1.26 GB/FB ratio and only a 34.2 FB%. Since joining the Cardinals though, his GB/FB ratio has steadily gone down each year. So far in 2022, he has a 0.90 GB/FB ratio which is tied with last year as the lowest and his career while also having a 42.4 FB% which is the highest of his career. Goldschmidt has a career 57 wRC+ on ground balls compared to a 248 wRC+ fly balls. It’s clear hitting the ball in the air has helped Goldschmidt. The other factor that has propelled Goldschmidt into being one of the best players in baseball this year is how he’s handled breaking and off-speed pitches. While Goldschmidt, like most hitters, has put up good numbers against fastballs, he actually has a higher wOBA on breaking and off-speed pitches. Goldschmidt has a .405 wOBA on fastballs compared to a .441 wOBA on breaking pitches and a .536 wOBA on off-speed pitches. Additionally, Goldschmidt has the lowest Whiff% on these pitches in his career. No matter what you throw at Goldschmidt, he can hit it.

Perennial Success

As good as he’s been in 2022, Paul Goldschmidt is no stranger to putting up elite numbers. Despite his tenure with Arizona ending in December of 2018 when he was traded to Saint Louis, Paul Goldschmidt was the greatest player in Diamondbacks history. These are Goldschmidt's career numbers in Arizona with all time rankings among Diamondbacks players:

.297 (2)/.398 (1)/.532 (1)

.930 OPS (1)

144 wRC+ (1)

.393 wOBA (1)

13.9 BB% (1)

0.62 BB/K (11)

.234 ISO (1)

30.68 WPA (1)

44 DRS (2)

10.9 UZR (10)

22.3 BsR (3)

36.1 fWAR (1)

Franchise history

The only player in Diamondbacks history with stats close to Goldschmidt is Luis Gonzalez, but there still isn’t much of a debate there. The offensive numbers are there, but it’s clear that Goldschmidt has the edge. His best season in the desert was 2015 where he placed second in MVP voting. His numbers that year were:

.321/.435/.570

163 wRC+

.418 wOBA

.249 ISO

17 BB%

21.7 K%

0.78 BB/K

14 DRS

4.6 UZR

3.0 BsR

5.90 WPA

7.2 fWAR

It’s been established that Goldschmidt put up elite numbers during his time with the Diamondbacks, and since being traded to Saint Louis, those numbers have for the most part not gone anywhere. Since joining the Cardinals, his numbers are:

.290/.374/.510

141 wRC+

.376 wOBA

.220 ISO

11.5 BB%

21.6 K%

0.54 BB/K

10 DRS

10 OAA

8.3 UZR

8.5 BsR

10.57 WPA

15.3 fWAR

And this is how he compares to other top first basemen since the trade:

It’s been established Goldschmidt is the best Diamondback of all time and one of the best first basemen since joining Saint Louis. It’s time to establish how Goldschmidt compares to the league as a whole. This is how Goldschmidt compares to some of the best players who have played a similar amount of career games to him:

Paul Goldschmidt is and always has been elite and deserves recognition for it.

The Hall of Fame Case

Paul Goldschmidt’s career numbers:

.295/.391/.525

143 wRC+

.388 wOBA

.230 ISO

13.2 BB%

21.2 K%

0.59 BB/K

54 DRS

19.3 UZR

12 OAA

30.7 BsR

41.25 WPA

51.3 fWAR

As I stated in the introduction, Paul Goldschmidt has put up potential hall of fame numbers throughout his career. As of right now, Goldschmidt is on a Hall of Fame pace as he has similar and even better numbers then many Hall of Fame members through a similar amount of games. This is how Goldschmidt compares to four members of the Baseball Hall of Fame through around 1,560 career games: