I didn’t play well most of last year,” Goldschmidt said on a Zoom conference call Thursday afternoon to discuss the one-year, $12.5 million contract he agreed to late last month to be the Yankees’ first baseman in 2025.

A bounce-back season from the right-swinging Goldschmidt, as well as the left-handed Bellinger, coupled with the additions to the pitching staff of lefty Max Fried and closer Devin Williams, would go a long way in getting the Yankees back to the top of the American League.

Paul Goldschmidt went through a miserable first four months last year, including a career-worst 0-for-32 slide that ended with a May 11 ninth-inning single to avoid his first five-strikeout game.