Los Angeles Dodgers games against the Arizona Diamondbacks will be much different this season as two players who have tormented them over the years, Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock, no longer are with the team.
Pollock, of course, is now a member of the Dodgers after signing a four-year deal in the offseason, and Goldschmidt now plays for the St. Louis Cardinals after being traded.
The Dodgers took on Goldschmidt and the Cardinals for the first of seven games this season on Monday night, falling 4-3 at Busch Stadium.
They don’t have to face Goldschmidt 19 games a year anymore, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts expressed his excitement about that while calling Goldschmidt one of his favorite players, via Jorge Castillo of the L.A. Times:
“Seven is much better than 19,” Roberts said. “If you look at opponents, he is in the top three of my favorite players in the game. So I’m happy I only see him seven times. We’re not going to let this guy beat us. But I just love everything about Paul Goldschmidt.”
These comments echoed Roberts’ reaction immediately after the trade when he said he was ‘very happy’ that Goldschmidt was no longer in the National League West.
With Arizona entering a rebuilding phase, the Dodgers are the heavy favorites to win their division for the seventh straight season and they have gotten off to a hot start to the year at 8-3.
Goldschmidt has gotten off to a hot start of his own with his new team, sitting among the NL leaders with five home runs already. He was expected to be one of the top free agents next winter, but he recently signed an extension to remain with the Cardinals long-term.
