ESPN analyst Keith Law tends to be a voice of reason in the baseball media when he believes players or teams are being overhyped, which is what he thinks is going on with first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. The other day on Twitter, he said Goldschmidt is “rapidly becoming overrated,” and he expanded on his viewpoint in this morning’s Baseball Today podcast. “He’s got power,” Law said. “That’s all he’s got. He’s not a defender. He does not have great bat speed. He’s hit some home runs off of impressive names. To me, that’s anecdotal. If you want to take one step back he’s got a .310 on-base percentage. “If he guesses right on a fastball – he can cheat on a fastball and he’s got plus-plus power – if he guesses right and gets a mistake, he’s going to hit it out. A player like that can play in the big leagues for a long time. It doesn’t make him an above-average regular. It doesn’t make him a star. I don’t think he’s going to be that. “I’ve talked to a lot of scouts and front-office guys about Goldschmidt and the consensus is pretty similar. Bench guy, platoon guy, it’s power but it’ s nothing else. I know he’s supposed to be a great kid with a great work ethic. The Diamondbacks guys absolutely love him. At the end of the day, it’ s hard to stay in the big leagues as an above-average everyday player – as a solid average everyday player – if you don’t have good bat speed. “He’s going to have to really run into a lot of mistakes or just become a good cheat hitter. Every once in a while you get a guy who can cheat on enough fastballs. By cheat, I don’t mean he’s injecting himself with steroids before every at-bat. Cheating on a fastball is starting your bat a little bit earlier. Essentially guessing fastball. You start your bat early. If you end up getting a fastball, it’s a great result. Every once in a while we get a guy who can hang around like that. I’m not going to bet on Goldschmidt being that guy. I think he stays in the big leagues, I think he’ s got tantalizing power, but the other elements aren’t there to make him an above-average regular.” --

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