Baseball America No. 10 Nats prospect: Brian Goodwin

Outfielder Brian Goodwin played in 81 games last season for the Syracuse Chiefs. It was the 24-year-old's his first full season at Triple-A. The left-handed Rocky Mount, N.C., native is locked in Baseball America's Nationals prospects list at No. 10. No. 10: outfielder Brian Goodwin "I think right now he is in the fourth outfielder mode," Baseball America editor-in-chief John Manuel said. "I had a chance the last two years to go to the (Arizona) Fall League to work for MLB Network as a color analyst. Last year, I was there for a week and I saw Goodwin several times. I saw him hit a home run off a left-hander, I think it was (Red Sox prospect) Eduardo Rodriguez." Manuel said that particular home run was a good sign for Goodwin, who is always looking to improve on his hitting against southpaws. Last season, he hit .193 against left-handers. "I remember seeing him take a left-hander deep and I remember being impressed with that," Manuel said. "I saw him in high school and at North Carolina, talked with scouts when he was with Miami-Dade (College), there is a lot of tantalizing stuff there. There has been some refinement, but there hasn't been enough refinement. There hasn't been enough improvement." But Manuel has seen Goodwin take solid steps each season to get better. "He's gotten better at some of those little things," Manuel said. "But (he is still working on) hanging in there against left-handed pitchers consistently. Pitch recognition, he does draw walks. He kind of reminds me of Fred Lewis (when he was) in the Giants organization. (Lewis played for four teams from 2006-12.) That veteran outfielder who has been in the big leagues like an extra guy. He is probably a little bit better defender than Lewis was." Manuel compares former big leaguer Randy Winn to Goodwin. He said Winn was less toolsy than Goodwin, but played in the majors for a long time (1998-2010) because of his "savvy baseball aptitude." "There is still a chance it could all click for Goodwin and he could be an everyday guy," Manuel said. "You could look at what he doesn't do, he doesn't hit left-handers. (But) what he does do is he draws walks, he has speed, he can steal a base, he plays all three outfield positions." Michael A. Taylor is the only other comparable speedy outfielder in front of him among Baseball America's top 10 Nats prospects, and he is at No. 3. Goodwin will look to have an injury-free campaign, improve and be more consistent this season in his second year with the Chiefs.