SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Arizona Diamondbacks chief baseball officer Tony La Russa has a nickname for Paul Goldschmidt: Albert P. Pujols.
The P? It stands for perfect.
“I’m being honest,” La Russa tells USA TODAY Sports. “Perfect. He works at every part of his game – defense, base running, hitting. He works to get better. He’s a plus, plus player and a great teammate and he’s dying to win.”
Gradually, those qualities are getting recognized far beyond Phoenix. In the past three seasons, Goldschmidt, 28, has two runner-up finishes in National League MVP voting. He’s been an All-Star in three of his four full major league seasons.
Yet, a disconnect may remain between national observers and those fortunate to watch him play every day.
“He’s Jesus Christ in a baseball uniform,” says Diamondbacks assistant hitting coach Mark Grace, a three-time All-Star first baseman. “He’s everything you want in a baseball player.
“We know what a special, not only player, but a human being this guy is. He’s not in a major market like New York or Chicago, L.A. or Boston, so he does get overlooked.”
And underpaid.
Goldschmidt is the best right-handed hitter in the NL, producing a lifetime .930 on-base-plus-slugging percentage that includes a 1.005 mark in 2015 while batting .321. He’s in the third year of a five-year, $32.05 million contract he signed in March 2013, after he’d played less than 200 major league games. As Goldschmidt blossomed into a premier player, that deal — which includes a $14.5 million club option for 2019 — has only grown more team friendly.
Goldschmidt is the fourth-highest-paid player on his team and the 23rd-highest-paid first baseman in the majors.
Goldschmidt, ever polite, parries talk about his contract, noting that the business side of the game will not become a distraction. Fortunately for him, there’s a good chance he’ll remain an elite player when he does hit the free agent market.
Goldschmidt’s walk rate has increased each season, and he drew a career-high 118 last season, trailing only the Cincinnati Reds’ Joey Votto (143) and NL MVP Bryce Harper. A Diamondbacks team that won 79 games last year seems determined to maximize the window in which Goldschmidt remains a building block.
An excellent spring for the revamped squad — Arizona signed ace Zack Greinke in the offseason and won 20 of its first 24 Cactus League games — will only increase expectations.
Goldschmidt does not figure to change, regardless of internal or external noise.
“It was how I was taught to play the game,” he said. "I can’t control what people say about me. My focus is on what I can control and what I need to do to get better.”
Asked if Goldschmidt was too humble, teammate David Peralta didn’t hesitate.
“Oh yeah, he is,” says Peralta. “Sometimes I tell him, ‘When you hit a home run, you need to do a little thing.’ He says, ‘No, I like to do the right thing,’ which is good.”
Says Grace: “His personality is just that. He doesn’t seek the limelight. What he seeks is greatness. What he seeks is a world championship."
While Goldschmidt, known locally as America’s First Baseman, remains humble to the public, he has become more strident behind clubhouse doors.
“The last couple of years, you really started to see the leadership qualities that he has,” said reliever Brad Ziegler, who joined the Diamondbacks during Goldschmidt’s first season. “He’s a lot more vocal in team meetings. He’s come to the realization that he is the face of this team, the leader of this team, whether he wants to be or not. If you asked him he would probably choose to be in the background and just go out and play. He doesn’t want the limelight.”
Goldschmidt would play every inning of every game if the Diamondbacks allowed him. But manager Chip Hale has other plans this season.
In 2015, he sat out only three games. In 2013, he sat out just one.
If it weren’t for a broken hand suffered in 2014 that limited him to 109 games, his total would compete with Adrian Gonzalez (631 games) of the Los Angeles Dodgers for most games played by active first baseman since 2012.
“I always want to play and will play every game,” says Goldschmidt. “But Chip’s going to do what’s best for the team. If he thinks I need a day off, he’s decides, he’s in charge.
“My job is to play.”
Hale wants cut down on the volume of games Goldschmidt plays to leave something in the tank for the second half of the season.
“His numbers in the first half of last season, if he could have kept going were going to be Hall of Fame caliber numbers,’’ says Hale. “It was ridiculous.
“We want to continue that type of season. We don’t want any tail off. He has the ability to be that guy all the time. With his supporting cast, and with five to 10 more days more off, he can continue to be the guy he was in the first half of last year. He battled through the second half to lead us. He was tired.”
Yet even an overburdened Goldschmidt strikes fear into the opposition. When La Russa speaks of perfection, it also extends to his ability to capitalize even when his chances are minimized.
“You almost feel sorry for the pitchers,” says Ziegler. “Once he’s got them figured out, then his approach to the plate is so good that he’s going to sit and wait for the pitch that he’s looking for and when he gets it, he doesn’t miss it.”
“He’s Paul Goldschmidt,” said Peralta. “Nobody can be like him.”
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