Tigers: Analyzing Niko Goodrum And his Future With Detroit
By Tyler Kotila
The Detroit Tigers used Niko Goodrum all over the field last year in his second full season in the big leagues. Goodrum was no all-star, but played a valuable role for the Tigers in 2019, but what could his future value be?
On a team that ended up dead last in the league, earning the first overall pick in the 2019 MLB First-Year Amateur Player Draft, the Detroit Tigers did not have much to cheer about. Niko Goodrum played a role on this awful Tigers team, and he may have had a more significant role than most may think.
As a utility player who registered time as all defensive positions besides catcher. The Tigers may not have that superstar player as they are rebuilding, but there is value in some of their players, and Goodrum could play a role in this rebuild.
In 2019, Goodrum produced a .248/.421/.322 slash line with twelve home runs and 45 RBI for the Tigers. He was also able to capture twelve steals on the basepaths and lead all Tigers hitters in WAR at 1.6 on the season.
He is also under contract with pre-arbitration status and will not be a free agent until 2024, which is excellent for an organization looking for effectiveness that is cheap while they rebuild. It’s apparent that he has his negatives, Goodrum did lead the Tigers in strikeouts with 138 during the 2019 season, so there are things to improve upon but he serves a purpose.
Looking at Goodrum’s 2019 Baseball Savant numbers, they’re mediocre at best. To save some time, it’s simple by just looking at the base ratings; he scores in the middle of the pack for exit velocity, as well as the mid to upper quarter of the league in hard-hit percentage.
Goodrum, being a switch hitter, lives in the right-center gap as a right-hander but is pull-happy as a lefty. His spray charts show some elements of a gap hitter, but as a lefty, the spray chart is just heavy down the right-field line. Goodrum has his positives, and on this struggling Tigers team, he provides them with a switch-hitting threat in the lineup.
On the flip side, being a pull-happy hitter from the left side of the plate, teams are more likely to shift against him. When hitting against the shift, his wOBA was only .296, where, on average, a hitter will have a wOBA around .320 throughout a season.
Teams only shifted against Goodrum 53.7% of the time from the left side of the plate, but when they did, he seemed to play right into it and end up getting out. Some players struggle greatly against the shift, but it’s merely something that Goodrum could try and work on to be more effective from both sides of the plate. With 136 strikeouts on the season, he carried a 31.9% Whiff Rate, essentially meaning he could be more disciplined.
Even without whiff rate, if a player leads the team in strikeouts, it could be concluded that being more disciplined in the box might be the best move for them.