Pittsburgh Pirates News: Team Signs Brian Goodwin To Minor League Deal

The Pittsburgh Pirates have recently picked up slugging outfielder Brian Goodwin on a minor league deal to compete for a roster spot in Spring Training.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have been in the market to add an outfielder to their roster. Bryan Reynolds and the oft-injuryed Gregory Polanco have two spots on lock down. The last spot, likely center field, was a competiton between Anthony Alford and Jared Oliva to start at the last final outfield spot.
However, the Pittsburgh Pirates have brought slugging outfielder Brian Goodwin on a minor league deal to add further outfield capable depth. This was the team’s second free agent signing of the day.

Goodwin, a former Washington Nationals’ first-round pick, split the 2020 campaign with the Los Angeles Angles and Cincinnati Reds. All told, he hit just .215/.299/.417 with a .305 wOBA and 91 wRC+ in 164 plate appearances. However, most of his struggles came after the trade to the Reds. His OPS dropped from .793 in LA to just .563 in Cincinnati.

Overall, Goodwin had been quite a solid batter for the Halos. In 567 plate appearances between 2019 and 2020, the right-handed batter had a .258/.327/.469 line, .333 wOBA and 109 wRC+. Goodwin also slugged 21 home runs, hustled out 36 doubles and had a .211 isolated slugging percentage

Regardless of his struggles in 2020, he was still in the top 69th percentile of exit velocity (89.9 MPH), top 61st percentile in hard hit rate (41.3%) and top 72nd percentile in barrel rate (10.9%, a career high). He’s also a decent runner, ranking in the top 80th percenitle of sprint speed and collecting +2.4 base running runs above aveage during his time with the Angels.

Defensively, his best position is center field and right field. In center, he has +1 DRS, 3.7 UZR/150 and 2.9 arm runs above average the last two seasons. In right, he has +2 DRS, 7.9 UZR/150 and 1.3 outfield arm runs above average.

Goodwin will come into camp competiting for a spot as one of the team’s starting outfielders. However, he may have the inside track to lock down a starting spot. The Pittsburgh Pirates really lacked power during 2020, ranking in the bottom three of home run total, isolated slugging percentage and slugging percentage. Goodwin does bring some pop to the plate, which is something the Pittsburgh Pirates could use especially after trading Josh Bell.