The One in the Cage

The Cage

Texas State coach Ty Harrington came back early from an overnight road trip — a couple hours of sleep and a morning of classes behind him — and found Paul Goldschmidt alone in the batting cage, working off a tee. Harrington later called him the most efficient, organized, and diligent worker he had ever coached.

This was before the eighth round, before the $95,000 signing bonus. Goldschmidt had been lightly recruited out of The Woodlands High School in Texas, where he played third base and won a state championship as a senior in 2006. The Dodgers drafted him in the 49th round that year; he went to Texas State instead. When the Diamondbacks took him 246th overall in 2009, he was not watching. His parents heard the selection and told him. He used a large portion of that bonus to buy an engagement ring for Amy, whom he had met as a freshman. They married in 2010.

The Number

On June 2, 2026, in his second season with the Yankees, Goldschmidt scored his 1,300th career run. The number spans three clubs — eight years in Arizona, six in St. Louis, and now the Bronx. His career on-base percentage is .376.

The MVP came in 2022, with his fifth Silver Slugger. He has four NL Gold Gloves and seven All-Star selections. He finished a management degree from the University of Phoenix in 2013, while already in the majors.

The Handoff

Two weeks into his 2011 call-up, Arizona signed veteran Lyle Overbay as a platoon partner and mentor. Overbay coached Goldschmidt on defense and on the things that do not show up in a box score. Goldschmidt has called him the best teammate imaginable. Now in New York, he mentors younger Yankees the same way Overbay mentored him.

Goldschmidt is 38, in his 16th major-league season, still at first base for the Yankees.

Reporting: Texas Monthly, Britannica, Wikipedia, AZ Snake Pit, MLB.com. Career and biographical data: MLB StatsAPI, via the Fever engine.