Nationals News: Brian Goodwin Recovering From Surgery
By Ricky Keeler
On Sunday afternoon, we found out that one of the Washington Nationals’ players in spring training camp underwent offseason surgery on his non-throwing shoulder. Of course, we all know that Jayson Werth is rehabbing from surgery he had in January on his A/C joint. Now, Brian Goodwin will look to try to make an impression on the organization in camp while rehabbing from a shoulder injury.
According to James Wagner of the Washington Post, the surgery is on his non-throwing shoulder, but the team will still keep a close eye on Goodwin. The tweet was later modified by Wagner to late last season:
News to me: Nats outfield prospect Brian Goodwin had shoulder surgery on non-throwing shoulder this offseason. Will be monitored in camp.
— James Wagner (@ByJamesWagner) February 22, 2015
Goodwin had a rough go of it last season for the Nationals’ triple-A affiliate, the Syracuse Chiefs. He hit .219 in 81 games with four home runs and 32 RBI’s. The Minor-League Organization All-Star in 2012 played his final game for the Chiefs last season on July 1, two months before the International League year concluded due to tearing his labrum sliding into second base.
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The 24-year old outfielder has a lot of potential when you look at his ability to get on-base as we chronicled earlier in the month when we compared him to Michael Taylor, who continues to find his way on to Top 50 prospects list all across baseball. While Taylor has the power that Goodwin doesn’t have at the moment, the 34th pick in the 2011 MLB Draft has the speed (19 stolen bases in 2013 for double-A Harrisburg) and the ability to get on-base (.342 on-base percentage last season).
While the Nationals clearly have the pitching depth in the minor leagues as we saw when Baseball America released its top 100 prospects on Thursday night. The Washington Nationals had seven players make that list, but only two of them were hitters. Those hitters were Taylor and Trea Turner, who won’t be officially with the organization until June.
If Goodwin can stay healthy, it will be interesting to see how he develops in what will be his second season with the Syracuse Chiefs. Nevertheless, the Nationals are looking to see great strides from Goodwin this upcoming season.
Even though this injury is to his non-throwing shoulder, isn’t a good sign as he tries to accomplish his goals in Spring Training. Will he be able to be what Michael Taylor has become? That remains be to seen, but one of the secondary storylines of Spring Training in Viera, Florida will be the development of Brian Goodwin and his health, first and foremost.
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