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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — At his best, gives the Cardinals offense a level of gravitas and elite production. His 2022 National League Most Valuable Player trophy stands as fairly conclusive evidence.

This spring, the Cardinals haven’t gotten Goldschmidt at his best. In fact, at the plate, he’s had his worst spring training performance, statistically, of his career.

With Grapefruit League play now concluded and just two exhibition games remaining before the regular season opener on Thursday, Goldschmidt didn’t try to explain away his struggles. He didn’t attempt to downplay the situation or ignore it. He addressed it pragmatically.

“Obviously, I haven’t played well at all this spring outside of a few games,� Goldschmidt said in the visiting clubhouse at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches following Sunday’s game that the Cardinals lost 9-4 to the Astros. “But I feel good. I just need to maybe make a few small adjustments, which I’ve been working on, and I think it’s getting close. I’ll try and do that and be ready to go on Thursday.�

Through 43 at-bats in exhibition games this spring, Goldschmidt has batted .116 with a .220 on-base percentage and a .233 slugging percentage. He’s struck out 19 times, walked six and collected just five hits (three extra-base hits).

Goldschmidt typically takes an even-keeled approach to stretches of outstanding success at the plate. Emotionally, he doesn’t ride the roller coaster of highs and lows. On a day when he hits multiple home runs, he’ll be the first to point out that he could strikeout three times the next day.

So how concerning has he found the struggles at the plate? Well, that depends on whether they continue.

“If I have at-bats and swings like I did this spring, the results won’t be good,� Goldschmidt said. “This wasn’t a thing of bad luck. There’s always ups and downs throughout the year. Hopefully, this was just a down period and I can make adjustments and play well going forward.�

A 6-foot-3, 225-pound seven-time All-Star, Goldschmidt is entering his 14th season in the majors. The right-handed hitter has won the Silver Slugger Award five times.

His least-productive spring training before this year came in 2014. That time, in Cactus League play, he batted .241 with a .311 on-base percentage and a .370 slugging percentage in 54 at-bats. During the 2014 regular season, he bounced back, batted .300 and earned the second of six consecutive NL All-Star selections.

There’s often an inclination when an accomplished veteran player struggles in spring training to dismiss the poor performance. The games don’t have any significant stakes attached. Teams aren’t likely to completely disregard a player’s track record because of 40 to 60 at-bats in exhibition games. After all, spring training serves as a laboratory in many regards — experimenting, trying new things, test-driving a swing change, a new approach, a slight change in a stance.

Goldschmidt, 36, didn’t use that as an out.

“There’s always a little bit of that but not to the fact of how I played,� Goldschmidt said. “I want to go out there and play well, especially as you get into the second half of camp. And I didn’t do it. I mean, there’s no excuses. I didn’t play well, but I’ll continue to work; hopefully it’ll be a good thing if it kind of exposed some adjustments that I needed to make. I’m working on doing that and being ready for the season.�

Previous struggles

Over the course of 1,774 regular-season games and 7,638 plate appearances, Goldschmidt has compiled a career slash line of .293/.388/.519 with 340 home runs — 10 seasons of 20 homers or more, including seven of at least 30 home runs.

Even in the midst of accumulating those impressive statistics during a highly decorated career, Goldschmidt hasn’t been immune to slumps or bad stretches. This current stretch isn’t unique in his eyes.

“When you’re talking about 40, 50, 60 at-bats, I’ve probably had plenty of times when I’ve performed like this — which is not good — so I think there’s always been times like that, and you could pick out a month here and there throughout my career (that’s not good),� Goldschmidt said.

“That’s just part of the game. I’m trying to make adjustments. I believe I will, and I’m confident that I can play well this year. I just always continue to take it day by day and try to play well.�

Goldschmidt is correct about similar stretches having cropped up at different points in his career, even during some of his best seasons.

In 2021, Goldschmidt hit 31 home runs slashed .294/.365/.514 and finished sixth in the NL MVP voting. During that season, he had a 20-game stretch in April when he batted .183 with a .221 on-base percentage and a .317 slugging percentage in 86 plate appearances (82 at-bats). During that stretch, he struck out 21 times and walked just four times.

During his 2015 season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Goldschmidt posted the highest OPS of his career (1.005) that season to go with 33 home runs, 110 RBIs and a slash line of .321/.435/.570 in 159 games. He finished second to Bryce Harper in the NL MVP voting that season.

Goldschmidt also had a three-week stretch in August (19 games) during the 2015 season where he slashed .208/.310/.292 without a home run and with 27 strikeouts and nine walks.

“He’s fine, mentally,� Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of Goldschmidt. “He’s working through some stuff mechanically and from a timing standpoint. For him, it’s different. Some guys slowly progress into feeling good. For him, it’s like literally a swing and it’s like, ‘OK, lock that one in and run.’ He hasn’t had that one yet.�

Marmol’s first season as Cardinals manager coincided with Goldschmidt’s MVP campaign of 2022. Marmol has been part of the Cardinals coaching staff throughout Goldschmidt’s tenure with the club.

Last season, Goldschmidt’s production slipped from it’s outstanding level in 2022, when he led the league in OPS, but he remained productive.

In 2023, he slashed .268/.363/.447 with 25 home runs and 80 RBIs. He made high-quality contact, including a hard-hit rate among the top 7% of the majors and an expected weighted on-base percentage among the top 10%.

Looking ahead

Marmol expressed optimism that Goldschmidt will be fine and reiterated that one at-bat might be all it takes to get the star first baseman back in sync.

“For him, sometimes it’s like one swing where he goes backside homer and just goes from there,� Marmol said over the weekend. “That’s where it’s not concerning.�

Goldschmidt took just two at-bats in Sunday’s exhibition game. Most of the club’s starting position players only remained in the game for four or five innings and batted twice.

For a split second, Goldschmidt’s second at-bat looked as though it might have gone according to Marmol’s script. Goldschmidt fell behind in the count 0-2 against Astros right-hander Hunter Brown. Then Goldschmidt poked a ball high into deep right field, but he didn’t quite square it up on the barrel of the bat. The ball jumped off the bat, but it lost steam a several steps in front of the warning track.

Goldschmidt still hadn’t taken that one get-right swing. So he’ll keep chasing it.

“You know you’re not going to be locked in the whole year,� Goldschmidt said. “There’s always going to be ups and downs and adjustments to be made. I’ll just try and take it day by day and try to play well.�