Brian Goodwin (OF, LAA) - Week 7 Waiver Wire Pickups

May 12, 2019

Brady Grove profiles Los Angeles Angels outfielder Brian Goodwin as a potential waiver wire pickup or add target for fantasy baseball leagues in Week 7 of the 2019 MLB campaign.

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ANALYSIS: It's not that Brian Goodwin hasn't flashed this skill set before, he painted a nice portrait of his potential performance back in 2017 when he hit 13 HR, stole six bases, and produced an .811 OPS in just 251 AB for the Nationals. He has eclipsed even that pace to kick off 2019, knocking four dingers, stealing a base, and producing a .318/.392/.509 slash over the first 35 games for the Angels. However, there seems to be an inkling of concern when it comes to his batted-ball contact (29.3% hard contact, 26.8% pull rate, 33.3% fly balls) and how sustainable that makes his .403 BABIP.

Don't let that scare you out of utilizing Goodwin, as he has plenty of tools to make up for his lacking areas. While his exit velocity of 85.6 MPH is below the position average, he has blasted each of his homers for an average distance of 429-feet at an above-average launch angle of 16 degrees, helping him on his way to his current .191 ISO. He has also improved his plate discipline across the board to the tune of a 23.8% strikeout rate (31.7% in 2018) and 10.3% walk rate (8.9% in 2018), and appears to have plenty of natural speed to propel him to each base safely. His sprint speed tops out at an impressive 28.3 feet per second, and while his hard contact leaves plenty to be desired, he is limiting his volume of low-quality contact as evidenced by a meager 14.6% soft contact rate. He is no slugger, but Brian Goodwin is a viable power/speed threat who has made wide-ranging improvements at the plate.