Brian Goodwin (OF, LAA) - Week 6 Waiver Wire Pickups

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ANALYSIS: Now in a more prominent role on the Los Angeles Angels, outfielder Brian Goodwin has solidified himself as an unexpected fantasy asset so far in 2019. The 28-year-old has flourished since he was handed the starting duties in left field for the Halos at the beginning of the season. He’s batted a sterling .341 with four homers, 20 runs, 11 RBI, and one stolen base for good measure.

Goodwin’s play of late has opened the eyes of not only the fantasy community, but also in his manager. Brad Ausmus bumped him up in the order to the three-hole in each of his last four starts, a formidable spot to occupy sandwiched between Mike Trout and Andrelton Simmons. The results have been incredible for Goodwin this season, and there are reasons to suggest it will sustain a healthy pace.

The most significant improvement with Goodwin has been in his plate discipline metrics. Now entering his proverbial “prime” years, the left-handed swinger has seen his career 27.1% K-rate and 8.9% walk-rate improve to 23.1% and 12.5% respectively in 2019. His keen eye and patience at the plate have paid off in netting him a current top-six placement in line drive rate (32.3%) as well as an improvement in Launch Angle which hasn’t altered his current 16.7% HR/FB off of his 15.9% career mark too drastically.

Goodwin has never appeared in more than 75 games at the big league level, so we’ve never seen a full year’s worth of sample size to get us excited legitimately. With 29 games already under his belt this year, we could be in for some surprising and compelling numbers from Goodwin especially if he remains in his current spot in the batting order.