It was widely believed that Goodrum would quickly adapt to his new position at shortstop. To put it simply, at the end of the season, Goodrum was unable to hit his weight and was demoted to second base.
When Goodrum felt like he was on the verge of becoming a reliable bat for this Tigers squad, this news is shocking. He looked like a bench player at the conclusion of the season, and he didn’t deserve to be the team’s starting shortstop.
In light of this, let’s take a closer look at Goodrum’s 2020 numbers and examine some potential explanations for why he may have slowed down during the Tigers’ 60-game sprint season.
To begin, he would play 158 at-bats for the year in 2020, with five home runs, 20 RBIs, seven stolen bases and 69 strikeouts in 43 games. Due to the fact that he is a switch hitter, it is important to examine his statistics from both the left and right sides of the plate.
While playing for the Tigers, Goodrum had 37 plate appearances, with two home runs and seven RBI against left-handed pitchers, batting .333/.378/.697.
Against right-handed pitching, Goodrum hit .130/.216/.228 with three home runs and 13 RBI in 139 plate appearances as a left-handed hitter.
The fact that Goodrum sees the ball effectively from left-handed arms yet suffers against right-handed pitching is a stark illustration of the extreme discrepancy between the two pitching styles.
This prompted me to go a little deeper through his data to see if there were any other patterns.
What Position Is Niko Goodrum?
Niko Goodrum’s position is Third baseman.