Paul Goldschmidt homers again in loss to Reds

The 38-year-old slugger will get a day off with right-hander Colin Rea toeing the slab for the Cubs in this one. Amed Rosario will function as the team’s designated hitter and will bat third for the Bombers on Sunday afternoon.

With the Cubs starting left-hander Shota Imanaga, the Yankees will have Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario in the lineup. Goldschmidt has remained a consistent starter in the lineup of late due to the Yankees’ myriad injuries, but he’s slashing .190/.248/.324 with four home runs, seven RBI, and a 32.7 percent strikeout rate over his last 30 games. The Yankees have also had the worst batting average in baseball since Aaron Judge got hurt. This is a lineup that needs help at the trade deadline.

Goldschmidt has shown some signs of life at the dish since the All-Star break after struggling through an extended cold spell at the start of July. The 38-year-old veteran will continue to receive looks atop New York’s lineup against left-handed starters since they don’t really have any alternatives at the moment. That could change after next week’s trade deadline.

Sure, why not. Schuemann has posted a respectable .378 on-base percentage through 36 games this season, which earns him the opportunity to face White Sox starter Noah Schultz with Trent Grisham on the bench and Paul Goldschmidt hitting third. It’s unclear whether this is a one-game outlier or the start of a larger trend for Yankees manager Aaron Boone. We’ll see.

In a game that featured six combined hits between the two teams, Goldschmidt’s was the only one that put a run on the board. He smashed a solo homer in the fourth inning off Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo to put the Yankees up 1-0, which was all they would need to pick up the win, as Cam Schlittler blanked the Phils for 7 1/3 innings. Goldschmidt has struggled mightily this month and entered the day slashing .140/.178/.233. Hopefully this homer can help him turn a corner.

Goldschmidt has gone 0-for-30 over his last nine games dating back to June 26. The 38-year-old veteran was an unexpected revelation for the Yankees in the early portion of the year, but he’s really scuffling heading into the All-Star break.

The Yankees haven’t said that Goldschmidt is dealing with any sort of physical issue, but this is the third time that he has been held out of the lineup in the last four games, so it’s possible that there’s something minor going on there. It’s also possible that they wanted to give him a couple days to clear his head after scuffling a bit at the plate over the last few weeks. Jasson Dominguez will serve as the team’s designated hitter on Sunday with Max Schuemann drawing a start in right field and batting seventh against Twins’ right-hander Joe Ryan.

It seems like a routine day off for Goldschmidt, but the veteran is just 11-for-51 (.216) in his last 14 games. Of course, four of those hits have been home runs, but he is sporting a 14/2 K/BB ratio over that stretch as well. He was never going to keep swinging as hot a bat as he had been at the beginning of the month, but we’re not ready to say the fun is completely over.

We might nickname Goldschmidt the ‘Skubal Slayer’ after this performance. He led off the game with a solo shot off Skubal and then one-upped himself with a 427 foot blast in his next at-bat. This was just a continuation of Goldschmidt’s red-hot month with eight home runs already in June to go along with a .346 batting average and 1.024 OPS. Of all players with at least 200 plate appearances, his .923 OPS is ninth-highest in what’s been a shocking, resurgent season for the 38-year-old legend.

Goldschmidt takes a seat with Ben Rice at first base and Cody Bellinger getting the nod at DH to face emerging Reds ace Chase Burns during Sunday afternoon’s matinee at Yankee Stadium. The 38-year-old veteran, who launched his 12th round-tripper of the season during Saturday’s contest, has been tearing the cover off the ball recently, hitting .338 (23-for-68) with six homers in 16 games since the start of June.