Brian Christopher Goodwin (born November 2, 1990) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for the

Wei Chuan Dragons The Wei Chuan Dragons () are a professional baseball team in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) that originally existed between 1990 and 1999. In 2019, negotiations regarding the franchise's revival and return to the CPBL took ...

of the

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 2 ...

. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

(MLB) for the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

. Before his professional career, Goodwin played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the stat ...

Amateur career

Born and raised in

Rocky Mount, North Carolina Rocky Mount is a city in Edgecombe and Nash counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The city's population was 54,341 as of the 2020 census, making it the 20th-most populous city in North Carolina at the time. The city is 45 mi (7 ...

, Goodwin attended

Rocky Mount High School Rocky Mount High School is a public high school in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Established in 1927, the school is in Nash-Rocky Mount Public Schools. History Public education in Rocky Mount began in 1901. High school programs were established ...

where he was a three-sport athlete in baseball,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

, and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. Goodwin was named Gatorade North Carolina Baseball Player of the Year during his senior season, and also received All-Conference honors in football as a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

and kick returner. Goodwin attended the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...

, where he hit .291, tied the school record for triples in a single season, led the team in RBIs, and was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American. However, Goodwin transferred to

Miami-Dade College Miami Dade College (Miami Dade, MDC or Dade) is a public college in Miami, Florida. Founded in 1959, it has a total of eight campuses and twenty-one outreach centers throughout Miami-Dade County. It is the largest college in the Florida Colle ...

, due to issues with his grades. As a sophomore at Miami-Dade, Goodwin hit .382 with a .500 on-base percentage. In 2010, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Harwich Mariners The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Fiel ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League. Goodwin committed to play baseball at the University of South Carolina following the 2011 season.

Professional career

Washington Nationals

Goodwin was drafted by the

in the 17th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft out of

. He did not sign and attended the

. He was then drafted by the

in the first round of the

2011 Major League Baseball Draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the firs ...

. Goodwin joined the

Auburn Doubledays The Auburn Doubledays are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) that is located in Auburn, New York. From 1958 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL ...

along with other draft picks for the 2011 season, but was not added to the active roster. Prior to the 2012 season, '' Baseball America'' ranked Goodwin as the Nationals fifth best prospect. Goodwin made his debut that year for the Class-A

Hagerstown Suns The Hagerstown Suns were a Minor League Baseball team based in Hagerstown, Maryland. They were a member of the South Atlantic League and, from 2007 through 2020, were the Class A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They played their home ga ...

. He was promoted to Double-A

Harrisburg Senators The Harrisburg Senators are a Minor League Baseball team of the Eastern League, and the Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who play their home games at FNB Field on City Island, which opened in 1987 a ...

after hitting .324/.438/.542 with nine home runs and 38

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

. At Harrisburg he hit .223/.306/.373 with five home runs. After the season, he played in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fille ...

and was the MVP of the Rising Stars Game. Prior to the 2013 season, Goodwin was ranked as the Nationals third best prospect by ''Baseball America''. He was also ranked as the 52nd best prospect in baseball by

MLB.com MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (a subsidiary of MLB). MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports column ...

He was called up to the Nationals in August 2016 after hitting .284 in the minor leagues. On August 10, 2016, Goodwin connected for his first major league hit, a single, against the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

. After starting the 2017 season with the Triple-AAA

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, Goodwin was promoted to the majors in May, taking the place of injured outfielder

Chris Heisey Christopher J. Heisey (born December 14, 1984) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played for the Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Washington Nationals in Major League Baseball (MLB). Early life Heisey graduated fr ...

. Goodwin hit his first major league home run on June 2, 2017, at the

Oakland Coliseum Oakland Coliseum, currently branded as RingCentral Coliseum, is a stadium in Oakland, California. It is part of the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Complex, with the adjacent Oakland Arena, near Interstate 880. The Coliseum is the home b ...

, connecting for a two-run shot to right-center off Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Zach Neal, amid a four-hit outburst that marked his best day at the plate in his major league career to that point. On July 27, 2017, Goodwin touched off back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs for the Nationals against Michael Blazek of the Milwaukee Brewers, hitting a two-run shot that scored pitcher

Max Scherzer Maxwell Martin Scherzer (born July 27, 1984) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, and L ...

from first base to begin the onslaught. It was the first time the feat had been accomplished in Major League Baseball since the 2011 season.

Kansas City Royals

On July 22, 2018, the Nationals traded Goodwin to the

in exchange for minor league pitcher Jacob Condra-Bogan. Goodwin was released by the Royals on March 25, 2019.

Los Angeles Angels

On March 27, 2019, Goodwin was claimed off release waivers by the

. In 2019 with the Angels, Goodwin appeared in 136 contests, hitting .262/.346/.470 with 17 home runs and 47 RBI, both career highs. In 2020, Goodwin was the Opening Day starting

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

for the Angels, and got a hit and an RBI in 3 at-bats.

Cincinnati Reds

On August 31, 2020, Goodwin was traded to the

for Packy Naughton and Jose Salvador. On September 1, he made his debut for the Reds, going 1 for 3 with a double. On December 2, Goodwin was non-tendered by the Reds.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On February 11, 2021, Goodwin signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization that included an invitation to Spring Training. On May 3, 2021, Goodwin was released by the Pirates.

Chicago White Sox

On May 4, 2021, Goodwin signed a minor league contract with the

organization. On June 10, Goodwin was selected to the active roster. On June 12, he made his White Sox debut and notched a three-run homer with five RBI in the game. He became the 38th player in White Sox history to hit a home run in his White Sox debut. On August 1, 2021, Goodwin hit his first career walk-off hit with a home run off of Nick Wittgren of the

to win the game 2–1. He finished the season batting .221/.319/.374 with 8 home runs and 29 RBIs in 72 games. On November 5, 2021, Goodwin was outrighted off of the 40-man roster and elected free agency.

Leones de Yucatán

On May 4, 2022, Goodwin signed with the

Leones de Yucatán The Leones de Yucatán (English: Yucatán Lions) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League. The team play its home games at Parque Kukulcán Alamo in Mérida, Yucatán. The Leones have won the Mexican League title five times in , , , ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. In 32 games, he batted .239/.350/.436 with 6 home runs and 19 RBIs. Goodwin was released on June 14, 2022.

Wei Chuan Dragons

On August 18, 2022, Goodwin signed with the

of the

References

External links

North Carolina Tar Heels bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin, Brian 1990 births Living people African-American baseball players Sportspeople from Rocky Mount, North Carolina Baseball players from North Carolina Major League Baseball outfielders Washington Nationals players Kansas City Royals players Los Angeles Angels players Cincinnati Reds players Chicago White Sox players North Carolina Tar Heels baseball players Harwich Mariners players Hagerstown Suns players Harrisburg Senators players Syracuse Chiefs players Omaha Storm Chasers players Charlotte Knights players Salt River Rafters players Mesa Solar Sox players Bravos de Margarita players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Naranjeros de Hermosillo players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Leones de Yucatán players 21st-century African-American sportspeople