Paul Goldschmidt isn't pleased with how the 2024 season went for the St. Louis Cardinals - and he's shouldering some of the blame on himself.
"It's frustrating, disappointing, whatever negative emotion, looking back and knowing a percentage of this is my fault," Goldschmidt said, according to The Athletic's Katie Woo.
"The way I played for a large majority of the season, I'm going to look back and feel like if I could have played better the first four or five months, maybe we would've won some of those games."
The Cardinals were eliminated from postseason contention following Friday's loss to the Cleveland Guardians. It's their second consecutive playoff miss after four straight postseason appearances from 2019-2022.
Goldschmidt and teammate Nolan Arenado, who were expected to be two of St. Louis' biggest contributors, had down years.
Goldschmidt and Arenado 2024 stats
| GP | HR | RBI | OPS | fWAR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goldschmidt | 148 | 21 | 60 | .714 | 1.1 |
| Arenado | 148 | 16 | 69 | .716 | 2.9 |
While Arenado admitted he "didn't perform the way (he) wanted to" this year, Goldschmidt took his comments one step further, calling 2024 the worst season of his 14-year career, which has included seven All-Star appearances and the 2022 NL MVP title.
"This is probably the worst I've performed on the field in my career," Goldschmidt said.
"That was disappointing, a good bit of that burden was on me. If I could've played how I believe I'm capable of playing, we could've won more games and maybe this might have turned out differently."
The 37-year-old Goldschmidt is a free agent at the end of this season, while Arenado is signed through the 2026 campaign.
