Goldschmidt Likes Speed

Since his call-up on August 1, Paul Goldschmidt has helped slug the Diamondbacks into first place and cast aside fans' sour memories of failed first base options like Russell Branyan, Xavier Nady and Juan Miranda. The former eighth-round pick out of Texas State has a .262 average, a .340 OBP and a .500 slugging percentage in 147 plate appearances, tallying eight home runs after going the opposite way in PETCO Park on an Aaron Harang fastball yesterday.

So far, Goldschmidt has smoked high-speed pitches. Check out his numbers against "hard" offerings (fastballs, sinkers, cutters and splitters):

Goldschmidt: .351/.435/.676

Average for non-pitchers: .284/.358/.448

Lower-speed stuff, on the other hand, is giving him lots of trouble. Here are his stats versus "soft" pitches (breaking balls and changeups):

Goldschmidt: .143/.210/.268

Average for non-pitchers: .237/.238/.374

It seems like pitchers are aware of Goldschmidt's issues with the slow stuff. Goldschmidt has seen a "hard" pitch 56 percent of the time, and a "soft" one 44 percent. The average for non-pitchers is 63 percent for "hard" and 37 percent of "soft." Until Goldschmidt shows he can adjust when the radar gun readings drop, pitchers would be best served by continuing to feed him breaking balls and changeups. Too often, those high-velocity pitches soar toward the bleachers at an ever higher speed.