{"id":67267,"date":"2025-06-05T07:06:41","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T07:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=67267"},"modified":"2025-06-05T07:06:54","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T07:06:54","slug":"yankees-unveil-potentially-absurd-fielding-option","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=67267","title":{"rendered":"Yankees Unveil Potentially Absurd Fielding Option"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Paul-Goldschmidt.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Paul-Goldschmidt.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Paul-Goldschmidt.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Paul-Goldschmidt.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Yankees Unveil Potentially Absurd Fielding Option\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">We\u2019ve officially entered the theater of the absurd. Or maybe it\u2019s just the laboratory of desperation.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In a pregame scene that had beat reporters reaching for their phones and fans raising eyebrows, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com <\/span>posted a video to X (formerly Twitter) <span data-contrast=\"auto\"> on Tuesday afternoon showing <\/span>New York Yankees <span data-contrast=\"auto\"> first baseman <\/span>Paul Goldschmidt <span data-contrast=\"auto\"> fielding grounders at second base. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">That\u2019s right, second base.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Goldschmidt <span data-contrast=\"auto\">, a seven-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner at first base, has never logged a single inning at any other position in his 14-year MLB career. So why is he suddenly turning double plays on a steamy June afternoon in the Bronx?<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The obvious answer: the Yankees\u2019 infield situation is less than ideal, and they might be willing to try anything.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Yankees Have Paul Goldschmidt Taking Pregame Grounders at Second<\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Second base has been <\/span>a revolving door <span data-contrast=\"auto\"> all season for the Yankees. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>DJ LeMahieu <span data-contrast=\"auto\">, once the steady veteran presence, missed nearly two months at the start of the season with a calf injury and <\/span>has struggled offensively <span data-contrast=\"auto\"> since his return. <\/span>Jazz Chisholm Jr. <span data-contrast=\"auto\"> began the season as the starter, but he missed about a month with an oblique issue and has also been <\/span>ineffective with the bat <span data-contrast=\"auto\">. Jorbit Vivas, Pablo Reyes, Oswald Peraza \u2026 they\u2019ve all had opportunities, but none of them have overly impressed.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">And that\u2019s before touching on the issues at third base, where the same cast of characters have attempted to fill the hole left by the season-ending injury to Oswaldo Cabrera. Unfortunately for the Yankees, Anthony Volpe can\u2019t play every infield position at once.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">This isn\u2019t just a question of who plays where, it\u2019s who plays at all.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">So what does a potential Goldschmidt-at-second experiment signal? For one, it could be about <\/span>Ben Rice <span data-contrast=\"auto\">. And Giancarlo Stanton.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Rice, the 26-year-old slugger in his second MLB season, has shown that he deserves a spot in the everyday lineup, slashing .246\/.333\/.520, with 12 home runs and 25 RBIs in 204 plate appearances. Most of Rice\u2019s starts have come as the designated hitter, although he came up as a first baseman, and if Goldschmidt can play adequately at second \u2013 even on a part-time basis \u2013 it gives manager Aaron Boone a path to pencil Rice in at first more regularly. <\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">That becomes even more crucial with <\/span>Stanton potentially nearing <span data-contrast=\"auto\"> a return from injury. With the DH spot earmarked for Stanton\u2019s bat (and hurting elbows), freeing up first base becomes a puzzle worth solving.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Putting Paul Goldschmidt at Second Base Could Open Several Options for First<\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Then again, this might not be about Rice or Stanton at all. This could be about what\u2019s coming.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Goldschmidt, who <\/span>signed a one-year deal <span data-contrast=\"auto\"> with the Yankees after playing six seasons with St. Louis, will be a free agent again after this season. He has looked good in pinstripes \u2013 defensively sound and still capable of driving the ball \u2013 but if the Yankees don\u2019t see him as a long-term piece at first, this second-base trial balloon could indicate Brian Cashman is sniffing the market for another first baseman at the deadline.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">But it\u2019s all for naught if Goldschmidt is unable to handle second base, even in short spurts, It\u2019s a wild idea. His career fielding stats show a highly capable, rangy first baseman with quick instincts \u2013 just not someone who\u2019s had to pivot and turn two while dodging runners barreling down from first.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">And at age 36, asking him to suddenly learn a middle-infield role feels like teaching a cat to swim. It might not go well.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">But desperate times breed creative solutions. And if you\u2019ve watched this Yankees team try to manufacture offense and consistency from a patchwork infield all year, this sort of left-field thinking (or, more accurately, right-side-of-the-infield thinking) starts to make a strange kind of sense.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Is Paul Goldschmidt actually going to start at second base for the Yankees? Probably not. But the fact that he\u2019s even taking groundballs there tells you how deep the infield uncertainty runs in the Bronx right now.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Dave Benson Dave Benson is a longtime writer with over three decades of experience in a variety of mediums, including 15 years covering high school, collegiate and minor league sports in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Dave is also a licensed English teacher and spent a few years teaching at the middle school level. More about Dave Benson<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eyebrows are raised at Yankee Stadium as veteran first baseman Paul Goldschmidt takes pregame grounders at second base.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":67268,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Yankees Unveil Potentially Absurd Fielding Option - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=67267\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yankees Unveil Potentially Absurd Fielding Option - 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