Cat's Corner: Paul Goldschmidt on training at Driveline, a potential contract extension and more

Intro [Music] hello everybody and welcome to another edition of cats Corner please be a pal and reach down and hit that subscribe button Our Guest this week is a seven time Allstar 2022 National League MVP in all honesty too good to be on this program with us it's Paul goldi hi Paul how are you I'm doing great how about you we do appreciate you making time for us um Happy holidays to uh to you and yours I I didn't plan on asking this but I'm awful as you know what was the best Christmas present you got this year yeah you know my wife and I we went on vacation right before Christmas we got five days or four four days together just me and her and we hadn't done that in a while so that was uh something I've been looking forward to uh this whole offseason and we were able to get away and um it was just a great trip so a gift of a nice experience with you and the misss that's very nice I got a gift c yeah I got a gift card not that you asked um so one of the things I think we saw on social media and Cardinal fans are stared for baseball that's why the hotto is so great in St Louis and every rumor gets Amplified on social media mostly in a good way but one of the videos was out there um was you with the drive line guys and it was a short video Working with Driveline and people said he's changing his batting stance so I want to ask you about working with drive line is that the first time how how long have you worked with those guys oh yeah you know I went out there in um in November spent a couple days with them and uh you know it was great great experience I learned a lot and I was really impressed with what they have going on there and had been trying to get out there the last couple years but hadn't really worked out and made a point to do it this off season and uh just a great group of people to learn learn from and uh hopefully picked up some things that can help me and and I can Implement into my game and and help us win this year and uh hopefully do some good things now it looked like you were doing a drill but I Improving his swing don't know if you could give us any clue have you renovated your swing or is it going to be the standard Goldie swing we're used to seeing well you know I'd like to play a little bit better than last year you know so I think hopefully it'll be back to how I played the few years before that so always working on that um but I wouldn't say any big overhauls or anything like that you know like I said going out there and uh you know other places that I've gone in my career is continuing to learn and and getting different perspectives and and find um ways to keep getting better because if I don't keep getting better then I'm going to get passed up and selfishly I won't have a job and uh you know unselfishly then it won't I won't be as good for our team and so I think that's been my goal you know every day but really in the offseason you have more time is and there's a lot of different ways to get better go to places like Drive Ryan or other places I've been or you know conversations with current or you know past players or coaches and so you know the offseason gives you a time to reflect on the previous years and and look for ways to get better and it's you know does not just hitting you know you know you make adjustments with the way you train in the weight room or do you know play defense or other other parts of the game as well and so for me you know it's not any different than I've I've always been in my career I'm just kind of fascinated Improving bat speed by it so it looked like they were working on ways to improve bat speed like what are the little idiosyncrasies that go along with that like obviously it's small things that are probably very technically oriented that are above what I know about but can you explain kind of what it is oh I mean you know you can make hitting as complicated or uh simple as you want I I like the simple form and I think uh I've always tried to think that way so yeah I mean it's pretty obvious that you know bat speed the more bat speed the harder you're going to hit the ball and the harder you're going to hit the ball um you know the better your performance is going to be with all things equal so I mean if if the only way you're hitting the ball hard is you know you're hitting ground balls or pulling the ball or now all a sudden you're swinging misses going up and you're not swinging at strikes and so now you're not walking you know obviously that's going to be bad but if if you can you know have you know better bat speed with you know as good a swing as as possible for each person and you know the statistics are are very very obvious that you know your performance is going to go up so this is something I've done the last couple years you know Drive Lines you know kind of um you know they've they've been some of the more vocal people about it and so for me it was wanting to learn and see if what I had done the last couple years was similar to what they were teaching um and you know there's some similarities there's some ways that they've you know things they taught me that could be a little bit different that I've tested out and implemented but I mean it's just to me the easiest way is to think of it like weightlifting you can't go in there and swing as hard as you can or lift as much weight as you can every single day you're either going to get hurt or your form's going to break down but there's definitely a time for you to go in there and swing fast or move fast in the weight room or Sprint fast or go full speed on defense there's also times to slow down and work on form the work on you know for a swing that would kind of be your mechanics um and then there's a balance of everything in between so um the speed thing I think gets a lot of attention and it looks cool and you can measure it um and all those things but I think it's just one part of you know a swing um and something you know I've been working on the last few years and this is just another step and you know if it didn't get them put on social media nobody would know and and it wouldn't be a big deal for me it was just something I've you know been working on something that's always been part of your swing my swing and and things I'm doing and I guess uh they have happen to put it on social media and now I get asked about it so yeah I apologize but you know I'm on the social media I'm like the kids I see it I got to ask about it so anyone who knows you Approach to hitting your approach to hitting is simple it's the same thing you say after every game where you go three for four with you know two homers you tell the media the same thing and they're like no but really your approach is find a good pitch to hit and Barrel it you did a lot of that last year but not as much as you had the year before when you look at the video of yourself hitting last year what do you see um yeah I think the swing was just you know a little bit inconsistent throughout the year and was just never able to really get in that Groove where I was able to consistently Barrel the ball as much as I believe I'm capable of doing and um so when that happens you know you're you're subconsciously making adjustments you know sometimes you're starting your swing earlier sometimes a little later you know different things like that so you know was just trying to to find a way to perform and help us win and and wasn't able to do that you know as much as um I'd been done in years previous and as much as I would have liked and unfortunately you know it cost us some games and um The Way the season went was not what we wanted so um you know the goal like every year is just to get in a good position to hit um and then let your athleticism and and let everything else your reactions just take over and so that's just been the focus it's always been the focus of the offseason but you know when you have a year that you know you don't feel as your best or things didn't come as easily you know you just go back and it's not making changes it's just making sure I'm getting back to the things that make me successful um I I said getting in a good position to hit and just you know putting a good swing on the ball so you we could get a lot more complicated like I said earlier but I think the simplest thing is like that and um so back to your original question about changing I think there's not a change is trying to be different there's a change of trying to get back to the you know my best year years and years when my swing was its best and it's not just a swing there's a lot of other things to go along with it and so that's really always the focus but um probably even just a little bit more this year just a little bit more focus on that and and just making sure you know because it didn't come as easily because you know I was kind of bouncing back and forth between you know feeling good and not feeling quite as great is just you know having a little bit more focused on making sure I'm not overlooking anything and just getting you know back to the basics and getting into a good position to hit I know uh you take care of Are you still the same yourself physically but the questions are going to come this stage of your career physically are you still the same guy do you still feel the same way in the Batters box yeah of course I mean sometimes you feel better and sometimes you feel worse so uh I mean I think you got to be honest I mean I'm 36 years old now and so if I tried to do what I did not just in the Batters box but how I trained during the year what I do in the offseason if I tried to do what I did 10 years ago or more I mean I don't think I would um be as successful as I've been and and um so you're always adapting you're always learning always looking for ways to get better and um you know this offseason is no different than any others now last season rough all the way around for you guys for the fans I was still great um what how difficult was Difficult season that you know for you guys as a team who had talent I know you guys were very confident going into the season and then things happen with the starting rotation then it kind of snowballed what do you make of that how difficult was it to go through that when you guys knew you were capable of doing so much more yeah I mean I think it's all it's all relative I mean we're talking about a sport here we're talking about baseball and you know there's a lot of things all the time that are going on on the world stage that are a lot more important than Sports so in that respect you know we got to keep some perspective but as far as within Sports is definitely one of the most if not the most disappointing season of my career um you know to have a team that very very much underperformed and to have you know lose as many games the way we did um and knowing how passionate the fan base is and how great this organization is and just the tradition and everything that's gone along with it I mean you want to be the the team and the player players that are carrying that forward and and doing great things and you know we had the goal to win the World Series and unfortunately came up extremely short so um you know on looking back you know especially early on you're just trying to figure out what's going on what can I do as an individual or what can I do to help other people um play better and kind of get this thing turned around and and what adjustments need to be made and so yeah that takes a lot more effort mentally and physically as you're trying to see what you can do versus when you're coming out and everything's just kind of clicking on all cylinders and the team's playing well so there was definitely that um but you know at the end it got to a point where we' dug ourselves into a hole you know that we couldn't get out of and you know then there was a bunch of different roster moves that were made and you know we were definitely trying to finish strong and and trying to prepare you know even for this year I think the last month you know you kind of looked at you know some guys were getting opportunities you know kind of a little try out for this upcoming season and and me as a as a more veteran player was trying to be there for as many young guys we had we had a huge amount of roster turnover in the middle of the year and try to make sure that um I could help those guys be good you know last year but also be better prepared for spring training and going forward this year so as tough as it was I think hopefully longterm it'll be a great thing for the organization and for all of us as individuals because um you know failure makes you make changes and and it exposed a lot of things that we weren't doing correctly and and hopefully we learn from those and and now this year you know we can correct those mistakes that we weren't able to correct last year and and hopefully have a great year this year now your boy arado look frustrated um and if my guess is right he's in the batting cage 12 hours a day right now trying to get even better so that he comes back with a vengeance and the team comes back with a vengeance have you talked to him this off season do you stay in touch and do you know what uh what kind of things he's doing of course I talk to him all the time and uh I mean even after the year he had previous where you know we both finished top three in the MVP he was working in the bat cage that's not going to change I mean that's what makes him so great so um until his career is over and probably long after it he'll be in the batting cage working and trying to get better and this year is no different I expect him to come back and have a great year and um excited for all of us to get get back to work and uh in a couple months he does not like to lose I know you don't either I think he shows it more though yeah I think that's a fair assessment so uh you know I've I can uh hide my emotions you know better than most good and bad and uh that's all right you know people need to be themselves I don't want people to try to be like me and I'm not trying to be like them you know as long as we're all working in the same direction that um we're great teammates and and we're doing what's best for this team organization and I don't think anyone has a problem with anyone else and um and for the most part we we've had that and we'll have that this year as well so that brings me to something that we've talked about before um the the fans view of Paul goldmit gamer guy um stoic I Paul Goldschmidt always every time I hear that he's not stoic okay you just you're asking him hey you had you had three hits and he he hates talking about himself not stoic but also doesn't say much lead by example guy I've seen you since the day you got here in the cage talking to the younger guys I saw a ton of it last year see you having lunch with some of the younger guys I see it I don't interrupt you guys because I know you don't want to hear from me when you're trying to enjoy a sandwich or something but you mentioned last year with the turnover and roster and a lot of young guys getting a shot is that more of a role for you is even doing more of what you have been doing in terms of trying to be a guiding force in the clubhouse um I think it needs to be um it's kind of weird just from a personal perspective you kind of don't view yourself as a veteran player I mean for me I still feel like a young player and I'm trying to learn and every day I'm trying to prove myself that I'm still good enough to be on this team and to be in Major League Baseball and want to go out there and perform but you also have to step back and realize that hey you know I have played 13 14 seasons in Major League Baseball you know up getting up there in age for a baseball player and we have players that don't have the same experience or maybe they're you know getting their first taste of Major League action and and I can share that you know my experiences and stuff that was Tau with me with them so yeah I mean that's something that I think I need to do um a better job of and have tried to do that tried to do it last year and in previous years as as well but you know we we did have you know the roster turnover with a lot more younger guys and you know we've added three pitching veterans this year and it wouldn't surprise me if we had more guys and so I think you know it's not just me it's our whole team we're all working together and everyone's doing the best best they can and um but you know I I remember when I was a young player and you know if guys what really helped me perform was a lot of the great veterans that were on the team the guys that I would take ground balls with they would taught me things and I didn't have to learn as much through experiences I got stuff taught to me um beforehand yeah I mean I had to be open-minded and ready to listen and I was thankfully but thankfully we also had guys that were there to teach me coaches veteran players and and now that's a role that I need to fill would you say that it's a fair statement to say there are times you had to push yourself into that leadership role when you didn't feel like you were the guy to be the leader is that a fair assessment trying to kind of figure that out no I wouldn't say that I think it's just weird it's it's just I don't know you don't don't see yourself you know you look at other players like man that guy's been around forever you know he's just this and that and and for me I'm just like like I said every day I just am trying to do my job and I think that's you know even back to the stoic or you know how I don't show much emotion I mean I think off the you smile but you smile a lot on the field I mean yeah I mean I because you could tell you love playing of course I do but I I think for me is I want to do everything possible to perform for myself and and for the team and the organiz the fans and so for me if I have to be a little bit more serious um in order to perform better then that's that's the decision that I've made I'd rather look back and say you know man maybe I didn't enjoy it that much but I don't want to look back and say man I wish it would have worked a little bit hard I wish it would have focused a little bit more I wish I would have done this and that and so I think it's a conscious decision I've made in in my career in my life and you know if we're out there playing golf or something else um I'm a definitely a different guy so you mentioned the uh new starting pitcher so Mo said we're going to get Thoughts on Lynn Lynn Gibson three starters and then boom boom boom you had three starters you got Sunny Kyle Lance Lynn just your thoughts on what those guys bringing right you played with Lance uh at the World Baseball Classic do you know those guys and what do you think of them so yeah I got to play with Lance I mean we had a great time with Team USA unfortunately came up you know one win short that one's going to hurt probably for the rest of my life um but he was great he pitched great from us and I know all the Cardinals fans know and and love him and he had a lot of great success here uh Gibson I've just met a few times knowing around and and sunny gay you know same thing I guess the biggest thing for him is I'm glad I don't have to face him because I had terrible numbers off him so uh it was good when he was in the AL but I think even this year he came in and and I was 0 for three so you know he's been a great pitcher for a long time all those guys have and um I know they're excited to be here wanted to be with this organization and um and are ready to help us uh play well and and get a lot of wins and and hopefully do something great this year now I have a really good relationship with with Lance you know he's been here before back and forth he loves that stuff I think you're the anti Lance Lynn in that like you're nice to every reporter even if the question is awful you're nice Lance Lynn gets a bad question he will destroy you he but in a way too like Sunny's that way Sunny said I'm not here to make friends I'm here to get guys out they do bring a certain Edge I don't know about Gibson as much but those guys bring Edge don't they yeah of course I got a lot of respect for those guys and Gabby too when you face them I mean you want guys to compete but everyone's personalities are going to be different and you want guys to be who they're going to be if you start try to start changing people you know you're not going to get the best out of them and you can feel it if guys aren't their authentic selves so um those guys are great uh they're going to be great in the clubhouse every all their you know teammates over the course of their careers have loved them and uh we're excited to have them I want to ask you about the young guys right W and Thoughts on Walker Buehler Walker um I was totally impressed with what Walker did and what I saw from W even though he didn't hit um if you follow his path to get to the big leagues he always started slow when he went to a new level of the minor leagues and then caught fire I think he's a special guy too what do you think of those two guys yeah I mean we got to see Walker throughout the year I mean he hit the ball he hit the ball great I mean he was great for us I mean we you got to keep reminding yourselves how young you know both of those guys are at 21 years old I think I was still in college so and you put them on you know MLB team with the Cardinals on the biggest stage you know was really impressive um to be able to come in you know as a rookie and at that age and do what they've done and and hopefully you know they learned a lot last year Walker got a lot more experience um and you know working with Turner the hitting coach and and all the other coaches I'm sure he'll be even better this coming year and and win as well I mean he was you know only up for the maybe those last five or six weeks but so I was really impressed as well I mean his defense was amazing he won some games for us just with his defense and um I know he didn't hit well but I mean everyone struggles from time to time and I know he's taken that into the offseason he's not going to lose confidence he's going to come back ready and stronger than ever and um I mean they're great guys I've been able to stay in touch with them a little bit this offseason as well and we're excited to have them and and honestly we need those guys and we need everyone on our team to to be ready to go and to play well so um I know they're ready to go I know they want to win and and are doing everything possible to prepare and and be ready for this upcoming year if I'm playing first base and wins it short and it's going to be a close play I'm G to be afraid of the throw that he unleashes have you ever seen a a young guy with an arm like that um so it's funny I mean when I had heard that he had throw the ball you know 100 miles hour whatever you know you're like man okay I better be ready over here um and a lot of guys that are young and and have really good physical tools are usually out of control and they're throwing the ball all over the place and it's moving or whatever the rushan but if you watch him I mean he was the most under control I've ever seen for a 21y old you know especially a guy with a rocket like that I mean he's actually has a really easy ball to catch um so that was that was something I was thankful for I wasn't sure you know even going into spring training I was like all right we'll see how this is because I'd kind of heard about him but I mean playing first base and watching him play is is easy he doesn't he doesn't throw the ball all over the place he's very very accurate he's under control you can see that he takes his time he doesn't Let it Loose unless he has to and um he's a great athlete so I think that baseball mind you know to me long term that's just going to be really valuable and there's still going to be a learning curve as there is for all of us but um was really really impressed by him what's it like playing for Ali like you play for other managers what's it like playing for Ali tell me something about Ally maybe something that's embarrassing that I could throw in his face next season but what's it like playing for him uh I can't do that but I mean he's great I mean um you know him and I our relationship is great we go back a long time time so he's really smart baseball mind and he's very very detail oriented and he sees the game that way and so he he see he'll see things even when we win that just you know might not even show up in the box score and he he wants us to get better at those things and and I love that for a manager he's very very competitive um last year you know especially he he that was hard on him I mean he wants to win and when the win and loss goes in the manager call I me as a hitter you know you can go four for four and the team loses I mean you're disappointed but if you look at your stats you know they're a little bit better but a manager stats are the win and loss and so when things don't work out even if you know he's making the right decision he's bringing in the right pitcher he's pinching he's putting the right lineup together when we lose you know that's on his shoulders and so I definitely felt for him last year because a lot of that's honestly on us as players we didn't do our job to the ability we need to do it and and he took a lot of blame and criticism for that um that's the manager's job but um you know I know he'll be ready to go this year and he's great and like I said very very knowledgeable and and forward thinking and and like I said detail oriented and a young guy like I just watch him I know it just seems he relates really well with the players do you see that also yeah of course I mean he played he played in the minor leagues he's been with the organization he coached a lot of those players and the minors he got to the big leagues coaching very very quickly he's done a number of different roles so um he's always trying to be as prepared as possible and um you know he does a great job and and hopefully he'll he'll do it again this year and hopefully we can back him up and play well so you got new pieces possibly some more pieces to be added what's the confidence level knowing the starting pitchers that you brought in to help things out knowing how much you want to rebound knowing how much the young guys are wanting to take a step forward what's your confidence level that this team can once again be a playoff team yeah I mean I think our goals are bigger than that we want to do much more than just make the playoffs and of course we want to win the world series I mean those are the expectations for the St Louis Cardinals organization um the confidence is high that we can go out and have the potential to do that but um like I say every year we got to prove it every team right now um has zero wins zero losses we got to go to spring training and from opening day um we got an opportunity to prove it and get in the playoffs and then do something special so uh our goals are definitely bigger than just getting in the playoffs and and that's where we're thinking but you know we got to go out there and prove it you got to earn every win there other teams in our division um and across the league both leagues really are are really really good and um we'll have you know our work cut out for us but that's what we want to do we want to accomplish something special and and hopefully we can do that Last Thing Before I Let You Go it's out there that there's been talk of an extension for you I'm not trying to get in your business I wouldn't do that sounds sounds like you are but my question is more open-ended where it doesn't put you on the spot is that something that you would like is have you thought about ending your career as a St Louis Cardinal there I asked it in a way where it doesn't box you in yeah does feel like it boxes me in but I mean I don't know we'll see what happens you know for me I've just always tried to play the game and and let any contractual stuff leave that to you know leave that out and uh so I think for me is just preparing for this year preparing to try to go play well and and help us win and uh whatever else happens you know it's going to happen Our Guest has been Paul gmid Paul I appreciate you making time I apologize if I boxed you in but I got to admit if I didn't ask that I'd be killed for it so I put myself before you I understand hey it's it's part of the business so uh you know I'm prepared it's all good that's going to do it for this edition of cats corner on the way out hit that subscribe [Music] button