When the Pirates claimed Ashton Goudeau off waivers last week from the Colorado Rockies, the initial reaction was probably to focus on the player Pittsburgh designated for assignment to free a spot on the 40-man roster — 2016 first-round pick Will Craig.

Fixating on Craig, however, ignores an interesting and potentially important story. For Goudeau, a 6-foot-6 right-hander who had a 2.07 ERA with 91 strikeouts and 12 walks for Class AA Hartford in 2019, is a late-blooming prospect who could really fill a need for the Pirates, eating innings and getting quick outs.

“I’m all about new opportunities and getting a clean slate,” Goudeau said late last week. “I couldn’t be more excited.”

While Goudeau has been plenty busy this offseason, consuming between 4,000-5,000 calories a day and packing on nearly 20 pounds in two months, the meaty part of Goudeau’s story traces back to November 2018, when the Rockies signed Goudeau to a minor league contract.

After his development had seemingly stalled, with a third consecutive year spent primarily at Class AA and a brutal run at Class AAA (8.20 ERA in 20 appearances), the former 27th-round pick (Royals 2012) badly needed a spark.

He found it with a man named Steve Merriman, someone with whom Goudeau worked in his early days with Kansas City and the pitching coach for Colorado’s Class AA affiliate in Hartford.

Along with Merriman and Rockies farm director Zach Wilson, the three decided to shelve Goudeau’s slider and lean heavily on his loopy, overhand curveball to complement his four-seam fastball and changeup.

The pared-down repertoire worked. After three consecutive seasons with an ERA of at least 5.10, Goudeau suddenly began dominating. In 78 1/3 innings over 16 starts, Goudeau had a measly 0.92 WHIP and got a bunch of quick outs.

“Simplifying the attack really freed up what I was doing and how I sequenced hitters,” Goudeau said.

Another thing Goudeau did was adjust how he threw his fastball. He got his fingers more behind the ball. He brought his fastball arm slot higher, matching how he threw his curve. It’s otherwise known as “tunneling” - or tricking hitters’ eyes.