Paul Goldschmidt of the St. Louis Cardinals was named the NL MVP after a great 2022 season. Follow along to take a look into his success this season.
Paul Goldschmidt Named NL MVP
We all knew it would happen, but Paul Goldschmidt has finally been announced the 2022 NL MVP. He raked all season (let’s forget about the end of the year) and was a crucial part to the success of the St. Louis Cardinals. The first baseman received 22 of 30 first-place votes.
Aaron Judge was named the AL MVP after his historic season with the New York Yankees. It feels so relieving knowing that our MVP is here to stay, while Judge could walk after making history. Let’s take a look into the 2022 season from Goldschmidt.
Season Recap
Paul Goldschmidt was named the NL MVP over Manny Machado of the San Diego Padres and Nolan Arenado, his teammate of the St. Louis Cardinals. Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts were also in the running.
The MVP award has been tough to come by for the do-it-all player. Goldschmidt finished second in voting twice with the Arizona Diamondbacks, once in 2013 and once in 2015. He was the runner up to Andrew McCutchen and Bryce Harper, respectively. Goldy also finished third in 2017 and sixth on two separate occasions. 2022 marks his first time getting the hardware.
History was a huge part of the season for the Cardinals, and we almost saw some more from Goldschmidt. The All-Star was close to walking away with the Triple Crown. He finished second in RBIs with 115, third in batting average at .317 and fifth in home runs with 35. Goldschmidt’s cold stretch to conclude the season made these numbers a lot different than they were months prior.
To go along with his .317 average, Goldy boasted a .578 slugging percentage and .981 OPS. Both of these stats led the National League. He was a finalist for the Gold Glove, but fell short. Goldschmidt is aging like fine wine, winning the award at 35 years old.
The magic of the Cardinals’ season ended against the Philadelphia Phillies, but it was still a season to remember. Goldschmidt will now take some time off before representing the United States in the World Baseball Classic.
Valuable Redbirds
The St. Louis Cardinals will be returning two of the top three vote-getters for the NL MVP award. After losing the ageless-wonder Albert Pujols, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado look to keep the winning ways going at Busch Stadium.
Nolan Arenado recently opted into his contract and is back with the Redbirds. He stated he wanted to be sure of John Mozeliak’s plan before he decided to return, so signs look good for some roster improvements. Get used to seeing some highlight plays on both sides of the ball for these two.
At the hot corner and the other side of the diamond, Arenado and Goldschmidt look to lead St. Louis to their fifth-straight playoff birth. Life will be different without Yadier Molina, but let’s send Adam Wainwright off into the sunset the right way.
