Paul Goldschmidt, first baseman, Arizona Diamondbacks
Our best guess is that the 2009 MLB Draft got a lot of scouts fired. In it, Mike Trout was selected 25th overall. Other stars drafted after Trout include but are not limited to Nolan Arenado and Jason Kipnis (second round), Wil Myers (third round), Dallas Keuchel and Khris Davis (seventh round) and Goldschmidt (eighth round).
Goldschmidt has done nothing but hit since making his Major League debut and 2017 has been no exception.
He’s slashing at .303/.429/.564, has 12 home runs, 39 RBI and a league leading 46 runs scored. Even that only tells part of the story. Goldschmidt is also a Gold Glove-caliber first baseman and can steal bases. In fact, Goldschmidt’s 12 steals are more than anyone on this list from either league, including Altuve. He’s on pace for 35 home runs and 35 steals, which has only been done 19 times by 14 players.
For the second year in a row, the Diamondbacks have been one of baseball’s biggest surprises. In 2016, it was negative. After an aggressive offseason, Arizona crashed and burned on the field, going 69-93. In 2017, the Diamondbacks are 33-22, tied for first place in the National League West and the second-best record in the entire senior circuit.
The struggles in 2016 came despite a fantastic year from Goldschmidt (24 home runs, 95 RBI, 106 runs, 32 steals, .297/.411/489). In 2017, Goldschmidt has been even better and is leading one of baseball’s best teams. He’s quite high on the list of NL MVP candidates.