Paul Goldschmidt's absurd stats lead to Rockies infielder's tantrum vs. Yankees

The New York Yankees needed a wake-up jolt after Friday night's sleepy 3-2 loss to the 8-42 Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. As they've learned by now, there's no better way to electrify a slumbering offense than throwing a left-handed pitcher at Paul Goldschmidt.

Even in his most difficult recent season in 2024, Goldschmidt struggled with high velocity, but had no issue with lefties, hitting .295 with an .838 OPS against him. When the Yankees signed him this offseason, they hoped that his veteran leadership would be able to imprint upon the locker room, and that he'd at least be able to hit one variety of handedness.

So far, that proposal has gone swimmingly.

The Yankees struggled to solve Rockies lefty Kyle Freeland through the first four frames on Saturday, as they often have against soft-tossing lefties over the past decade or two - but not Goldschmidt. He smashed two singles in his first two trips to the plate, raising his average against left-handed pitching into the .560s.

And, with the game tied entering the fifth, the rest of his Yankees teammates finally decided to follow suit.

Yankees' Paul Goldschmidt mashes lefties to an absurd degree, and he got a Rockies infielder to quit mid-game on Saturday

A 10-run inning is one way to un-knot a stubborn ballgame, and clearly, Max Fried's buddies were tired of watching him erase runner after runner on pickoff throws to no avail.

After seven runs had already crossed the plate, two of them with two outs after Jasson Dominguez's sacrifice fly, Goldschmidt came up again - against a righty this time.

It didn't matter. He laced another single - which looked a little bit like the insurance smash he ripped off Ryne Stanek last Sunday night - and Rockies infielder Adael Amador, in a gesture of surrender, threw his glove 15 feet in the air to try to knock it down.

It didn't work. But ... what if it had? Would anything have counted? Would Amador have been ejected? Something to think about as several additional Yankees circled the bases.

They needed an offensive punch-back like this in the worst way. Leave it to Goldschmidt to stay steady against a righty and officially send the opposing infield into a mid-game toddler meltdown.

Come on, Adael. We've got orange slices in the car.