Chicago Cubs: Comparing the National League Central’s first basemen

Chicago Cubs: A rival gets a big boost from former Arizona slugger

Paul Goldschmidt was St. Louis’ crowning offseason achievement, and, like Votto, has been very consistent over his career. Goldy made the All-Star team for six straight seasons representing Arizona and has been in the top-10 in MVP voting in each of the last two seasons.

We’re talking about the guy who has seemingly overshadowed Anthony Rizzo at every turn, thanks to his remarkable consistency and ‘face of the franchise’ status down in the desert. This season, though, it’s been a bit of a mixed bag.

He’s put together back-to-back 30 home run seasons and played in 150 games or more in each of the last four years. However, this year he posts a .270/.350/.479 slash line, all career-lows since breaking into the big leagues in 2011.

His .828 OPS is also a career-low dating back to his rookie season where he only played 48 games. Outside of the last week-and-a-half where the Cardinals have struggled, Goldschmidt has been the catalyst to St. Louis’ offense though. Like Votto, I expect to see his normal numbers come September.