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2014 Elijah Goodman back on the market and making noise on the mound

May 12, 2014

By Steve Nielsen
Scouting Director – Wisconsin/Illinois

Recently one of the top 2014 prospects in Wisconsin, Elijah Goodman (Brookfield Central), opened up his recruiting efforts in search of a Division 1 fit. Verbally committed to UW-Whitewater, the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Goodman made it known that he is back on the market and he’s pitching with a vengeance.

Goodman’s high school, Brookfield Central, plays summer high school baseball, so this spring he has been playing in the STiKs Academy Spring League every weekend. I got the chance to peek in on Goodman’s progress this weekend and see how the big right-hander has been doing.

At 6-foot-4, 210-pounds Goodman is a big boned, wide shouldered pitcher. His body looks a lot leaner than the last time we saw Goodman in June of 2013 and has obviously put in a lot of hard work. He has a strong pitcher’s body that is developed with a solid lower half. His arm is strong out of a high ¾ slot and works with a slightly stiffer arm action. His delivery has some crudeness but he flashes the athleticism to be able to make any adjustments necessary. There is a lot of raw athleticism about Goodman. As a three sport athlete he obviously has well-rounded athleticism but lacks some of the finer points of the pitching mechanics, leading me to believe he’s only scratching the surface of his abilities.

Goodman’s fastball stayed strong at 86-88 mph his entire outing touching 89 mph on multiple occasions (right on par with the reports we’ve heard of him touching 90 mph this spring), maintaining velocity from the stretch. His fastball is mostly straight when thrown to his glove side but flashed several with hard late sinking action when thrown to the middle or arm side of the plate. He also showed he can fill up the zone regularly with his fastball.

His curveball works more on a 12/6 plane at 70-72 mph with excellent depth and swing and miss capabilities. Early in the game he struggled to find the feel for it but after the second inning was able to throw it at will for strikes.

Go to Goodman’s profile page for VIDEO on his performance.

With his spring league over for the year Goodman’s next outing should be in a Brookfield Central uniform whose season opens up on May 23. The stuff Goodman showed over the weekend is clearly capable of pitching at a high level and I would expect a lot of interest in Goodman if he continues to show similar stuff.

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