'I want to play better': Goldy aiming for consistency in new spot

ATLANTA -- Not long after slotting Paul Goldschmidt into the No. 7 spot in the batting order for the first time there in nearly 12 years, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol told a story about a time when the star felt much more in tune with his approach to the plate.

“We were in Pittsburgh [in 2022] and when Goldy knows he’s feeling right, he knows,” Marmol said. “He hits a ball to left field for a double and he comes into the dugout and he’s shaking his head. He sits next to me, and I said, ‘You don’t like that?’ And he said, ‘That ball needs to be in the stands; I can’t miss that pitch.’

“[Goldschmidt] goes into the next at-bat and he gets the same pitch and hits it into the stands and sits down next to me and says, ‘That’s where that pitch needs to land.’ When he’s feeling good, that’s how the game is to him. He knows what he needs to do, and he does it. That’s not how the game has felt to him right now.”

On Sunday, after Goldschmidt homered in his first at-bat from the No. 7 hole and helped the Cardinals beat the Braves, 6-2, to capture the series, he finally started to resemble the dynamic hitter who won the National League Most Valuable Player Award less than two seasons ago. Goldschmidt woke the offense up in a big way, turning around a 98 mph four-seam fastball for a Statcast-projected 365-foot home run that slammed off the facade of the second deck in left field.

The Cardinals are hopeful that Goldschmidt’s 14th home run of the season -- one that snapped an 0-for-12 skid -- gets the slugger going again. He came into Sunday hitting .225 with just 37 RBIs. Right-handed pitchers had given him fits (.206 batting average) before homering off Atlanta’s Spencer Schwellenbach. Maybe the most alarming part of Goldschmidt’s struggles had been his lack of productivity with runners in scoring position, as he came into Sunday hitting just .169 with two extra-base hits in those critical spots.

Afterwards, Goldschmidt didn’t hide from the fact that his demotion in the lineup was warranted because of his career-worst struggles this season.

“I mean that was obviously nice to hit a home run, but I also struck out twice and hit into a double play,” Goldschmidt said. “Obviously, I haven’t played well this year and I’m trying to do everything I can to play better.

“I want to play better and I haven’t done that. That’s the moral of the story -- I just haven’t played well this whole year and it’s cost us some games at times. No one hates it more than me. I haven’t done a good enough job of that, but I’ll continue to work to make adjustments that might help us win.”

Alec Burleson, the Cardinals' hottest hitter since the summer arrived, has picked up much of the slack created by woes from Nolan Arenado, Goldschmidt and Willson Contreras missing 6 1/2 weeks with an injury. The lefty, who had 11 friends and family in the crowd from his native North Carolina, hit a mammoth 435-foot homer and drove in two more runs on Sunday, extending his streak with an RBI to six straight games. It also gave Burleson 41 RBIs since June 1 -- second to Yankees superstar Aaron Judge for the most in that timeframe.

“He’s done a really good job of not only spraying the ball all over, but picking his spots to do damage,” said Marmol, whose Cards won the season series over the Braves, 4-2. “Burly has an extremely good skill set, but now he’s picking his spots of when to do what.”

“[Goldschmidt] has been grinding, and putting in all the work in the cage and I’m just happy for him to have some results because he’s hit the ball well this weekend,” said Burleson, whose 13 home runs since June 1 rank second in the NL.

Goldschmidt said part of his problem is that he’s failed to do damage on mistake pitches he’s hit hard in the past. He said he’s fine hitting down in the order and hopes that it will spark something in his approach.

“The truth is I haven’t played well and if I had been playing better, I’d be in the middle of the order, but we need guys who are performing to be there,” Goldschmidt said. “I haven’t done that and it’s just the truth. There are no excuses and I’ll try to play better.”