Yankees' Paul Goldschmidt sees leadoff role as just another at-bat

It stands to reason that after playing over 1,900 MLB games, you’d be a little surprised if, say, your manager asked you to bat leadoff for the first time in your career. But it also stands to reason that after 1,900 MLB games, you’d know to expect just about anything.

“It’s fun,” Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt told Newsday Wednesday with something of a verbal shrug shortly after the posted lineup card indicated that he'd be batting leadoff for the fourth game in a row.

Aaron Boone "mentioned it early in spring and I said, yeah, whatever you need. I think that was kind of the mindset: just don’t try to do anything different. It’s still an at-bat. I’ve led off plenty of innings, so you don’t try to make a bigger deal of it than it is.”

They say necessity is the mother of invention, and this spring training, Boone was confronted with a necessity. In past seasons, Anthony Volpe, who appeared to have the raw talent to be a strong leadoff option, hadn’t really shined in the role. Another option, Jasson Dominguez, is still unproven at the major-league level, and the extra pressure probably wasn't going to help matters.

And so, Boone leaned into a more unorthodox approach when Opening Day rolled around.

Austin Wells, moderately slow-footed but powerful, became the first catcher to bat leadoff in the Yankees 123-year history (he also became the first MLB catcher since 1900 to hit a leadoff homer on Opening Day). Since then, the job has gone to Goldschmidt.

Goldschmidt is 37 years and 204 days old. His sprint speed is in the 23rd percentile in the league, according to Baseball Savant. Created in the mold of Rickey Henderson, he is not. But so far, it's working out pretty well, though Boone did confirm that the role remains fluid.

Wednesday, that meant Goldschmidt got the nod against Diamondbacks righthander Zac Gallen.  While Gallen had close to neutral splits last year, and reverse splits throughout his career, it was still a show of confidence: Goldschmidt, who bats right, came into the day 0-for-9 against Gallen, with a walk and four strikeouts.

“Just trying to create balance,” Boone said, “just trying to create some kind of right-left thing throughout, especially with their pen, they can match you up pretty good with some leverage guys from the left side and the right side, so just the best we can, not try to give them any easy [outs].”

And getting the most out of Goldschmidt is key to an offense working around a significant power gap with Giancarlo Stanton (elbow) on the injured list. Going into Wednesday, the former St. Louis Cardinal, who struggled plenty in the first half last season before a second half resurgence, is 5-for-16 with a double, a homer, two RBIs, and a walk. It’s a ridiculously small sample size, though Boone believes there’s reason to believe he can sustain the success.

“I thought as his spring went on, he kept getting better and better each and every day,” Boone said. “And from kind of the middle of the spring on . . . there was a real consistency to the at bats he was starting to build. And hopefully that’s something that carries him throughout the season. I feel like, for the better part of a month now, he’s been swinging the bat pretty well.”

It’s also true that while Goldschmidt isn’t going to light the basepaths on fire, his maturity and experience lends itself to a role that often requires a hitter to go in a little blind.

“Probably the only difference is trying to make sure you’re ready, just because you don’t have a few guys in front of you timing up the pitcher and getting into the swing of things,” Goldschmidt said. “So that would probably be the only difference, but as far as when I get in the box, I just try to do my normal at bat.”

It also speaks to a slow but perceptible shift in lineup construction throughout the league. As teams look to optimize their matchups and find weak spots against increasingly powerful pitchers, traditional roles have become more flexible. It’s not true for every team, but it’s certainly true of Wednesday’s opponent: The Diamondbacks are a good hitting team that shuffles its hitters with the dexterity of a Las Vegas dealer. In only their sixth game of the season, they’ve hit Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll leadoff, and have shifted Geraldo Perdomo and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. up and down the lineup to gain a leg up.

It used to be that was a sign that a team could be floundering — sacrificing stability in an attempt to find a combination that works. No longer.

“They have complementary pieces on their roster. Like today, where you see three, four different [guys] that they’re going to hit for in a certain situation,” Boone said of the Diamondbacks. “And yet, they’re probably one of the better offenses in the sport. There are other offenses that tend to be more established and more old school in how they roll them out. It just depends on your roster year in and year out and as the season unfolds a little bit.”

And so, Wednesday, that means Goldschmidt drops his first base glove the minute the top of the inning is over and heads to the plate. It's a new team and a new role, but it's still just hitting.

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.