Prospect Profile: Nick Goody
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(Photo via LSUSports.net)
Nick Goody | RHP
Background
A Florida kid from Orlando, Goody both pitched and played shortstop at University High School. He wasn’t much of a pro prospect as a prep player and subsequently went undrafted in 2009. Goody pitched for the State College of Florida at Manatee-Sarasota in 2010 and allowed eight runs in 19.2 innings with a 22/7 K/BB as a freshman reliever. Since he was attending a two-year school, Goody was draft-eligible in 2010, though MLB teams against passed and he went undrafted.
After a stint in the Florida Collegiate Summer League, Goody dominated as a sophomore starter with the Manatees. He led the team in innings (84), strikeouts (114), and ERA (1.29) while allowing 47 hits and walking 33 batters. The performance earned him Suncoast Conference Pitcher of the Year and JuCo All-American honors. Baseball America (subs. req’d) ranked Goody as the 64th best prospect in Florida prior to the 2001 draft, and the Yankees selected him in the 22nd round (689th overall) that year. He did not sign and instead transferred to Louisiana State for his junior season.
Goody stepped right in as the Tigers’ closer this spring, pitching to a 2.67 ERA with a stellar 45/4 K/BB (!) in 33.2 innings. He helped LSU to the SEC Championship. Baseball America ranked Goody as the 239th best prospect in the draft this summer, and that’s pretty much exactly where the Yankees drafted him — in the sixth round and 217th overall. He signed relatively quickly for a slightly-below-slot $140k bonus.
Pro Debut
The Yankees assigned Goody to Short Season Staten Island after signing, but he wasn’t there very long. After striking out five in 3.1 innings across three appearances, the team bumped him up to Low-A Charleston. He struck out 40 while walking just seven in 24.2 innings with the River Dogs, earning him another promotion. This time he went to High-A Tampa.
Goody finished the season with Tampa, where he struck out seven in four innings spread across three appearances. All told, he pitched to a 1.12 ERA with 52 strikeouts (14.6 K/9 and 7.3 K%) and nine walks (2.5 BB/9 and 42.3 BB%) in 32 innings after turning pro this summer. Between college and pro ball, Goody posted a 97/13 K/BB in 65.2 innings in 2012.
Scouting Report
Listed at 6-foot-1 and 195 lbs., Goody has a classic relief profile. His fastball sits in the 91-94 mph range and he backs it up with a hard, late-breaking slider. He hides the ball well by briefly turning his back to the batter during his delivery, and as those walk rates suggests, he’s very aggressive in the zone and throws a lot of strikes. Goody does not have any kind of meaningful third pitch and won’t need one in relief. There is some okay-at-best video at YouTube.
2013 Outlook
Goody figures to move very quickly as an advanced college reliever, and he’ll presumably open the season back at High-A with a midseason promotion in the cards if he stays healthy. A cameo with Triple-A Scranton at the end of the season would not be surprising.
My Take
I jumped on the Goody bandwagon soon after the draft and, at the moment, I consider him the team’s second best relief prospect behind Mark Montgomery. He has good velocity, he misses bats with an out-pitch breaking ball, he throws strikes … what’s not to like? Goody wasn’t exactly a great scouting find since he was the closer at a major college program, but he’s a great value in the sixth round (especially at a below-slot bonus) in an age where MLB is trying to cut down on draft spending. He and Montgomery are already looking like important cogs in the future of the Yankees’ bullpen.
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So, Mike, do you rate him behind Montgomery just because he’s a little further away? Similar floors/ceilings?
Montgomery’s slider is better.
His delivery looks a little d-robish.
3 Prospect Profiles in a week? Great job, Mike.
Love Goody as a prospect. You have to love the depth of relief prospects in the minor leagues for the Yankees.
I’ve been slacking with the profiles this winter, so I figured now was a good time to make up for it.
#erection
+1 – I think this is the best comment you have ever posted.
#Bromance
#NoHomo
Meh. Let them think. I don’t give a fuck.
Careful, Dan Gen might be lurking.
Anywhere you are, I am
Every step you take
Every move you make
Every smile you fake
Every comment you make
I’ll be trollin’ you
Nice write-up. Hopefully we get to see him hit the big stage.
Thanks for the write up. I’ve seen his name once or twice but this is the first I’ve ever read about the kid.
Where is Chase Whitley and Brandon Pinder rate in comparison to Montgomery and Goody?
Am I right in remembering that Whitley really doesn’t have the dominant pitch the other two do and relies more on mixing pitches, etc., and that Pinder is a much less refined version of these guys?
Yeah, pretty much.
*Does “I know something” dance*
Further behind for different reasons. Whitley’s not a huge stuff or strikeout guy, but he’s definitely useful. Pinder’s a little too hittable despite the quality of his stuff.
Mike, do you consider Betances a reliever at this point too?
Yeah, you have too if consider him anything at all.
Thank God the Yankees learned from the past mistake of not trying a starting pitching prospect as a releiver prior to giving up on them (ahem, T-Clip). Maybe Betances can still prove useful.
Sounds like an exciting young kid. Hopefully he puts it all together and we see him in the Bronx for a David Robertson role.
I think someone just broke a hole in spacetime continuum.
I assume my statute of limitations on this screen name has legally expired. It’s all yours. Take good care of it and honor it as it should be honored.
I saw that yesterday, and I was confused. I was like…R-Tils decided he was tired of the fish thing??
Missed it the first time around. Yeah, that’s not me. No problem with them using it, though.
A cheap, effective BP is one key to 189, IMO.
Of course. I have a lot of confidence in that happening, as well. The front office has proved to be very good at doing just that of late. Mo and Soriano are exceptions of course, but Mo is Mo and I’m willing to let the Randy Levine thing with Soriano slide when considering the overall track record.
Yeah let’s “let slide” the whole thing where Levine brought in an elite reliever at market rate and got 2 productive years out of him…. What a travesty! He is lucky we are forgiving him for such a crime…. LOL
Some people will complain about anything.
Two productive years? Soriano had a 4+ ERA and missed half the season with an elbow injury in 2011.
You and your silly facts. When are you just going to give up and make dan head writer?
Sorry thought that was a different troll. dalelama*
And his second year would be far less valuable if Mo didn’t run into a wall.
We’re lucky Soriano opted out.
I don’t know about “lucky,” but I’m not exactly advocating for the team go try to bring him back again.
Wait, wait, wait. YOU, of all people, are accusing me of “complaining about anything”? That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard on this site.
Indeed. A BP of
CL: Robertson
Eppley
Cabral
Montgomery
Goody
LR: Joba
Solid FA signing, SU guy
would be effective IMO
Given where reliever salaries have been going despite their volatility a solid pipeline of bullpen arms is going to be a good resource. Now if only the Yankees could have development success with other areas.
It’s always a good resource. It seems like someone is always willing to overpay, both money and tradewise, for fungible middle relief.
The #1 reason why I’d make a frustrating GM is that I’d throw cheap bullpen crap at the wall all the time until something stuck.
Also, why this would be a good time to trade Boone Logan, part 12.
If only they’d developed guys like Cano, Gardner, AJax, Montero, Nova, Hughes, IPK…
Could the Yankees bring back Soriano for 1 year $15 mil? If there’s no market, then at least he could return to familiar place and rebuild value again.
Considering that Cash had to ask for Youk I doubt it.
Not trying to be greedy about prospect profiles, but I’ve been looking at Ben Gamel. Who is a current MLB best-case and worst-case scenario.
Speaking of relief prospects, one of my favorites is Tommy Kahnle. I think he has one of the most talented arms in the system. Plus he cut down on his BB-rates last season.