Hunter Goodman is turning his power into something bigger than highlight fodder. The Rockies catcher has spent his second straight All-Star season showing he can do more than launch baseballs - he can change games.
That was on display May 29 at Coors Field, when Colorado trailed the Giants by three runs in the ninth inning. Goodman got a slider from Caleb Kilian and sent it toward the “Hit the Mitt for Charity” target beyond the left-field wall.
The ball did more than tie the game on a three-run homer and set up Ezequiel Tovar’s walk-off blast. It also triggered a $5,000 donation from UCHealth to the Colorado Rockies Foundation for Athletics & Beyond, a Colorado nonprofit that uses sports to empower youth in many areas.
The homer was another reminder that Goodman’s bat has become a real weapon in the moments that matter most. He’ll play Tuesday night in Philadelphia at the Midsummer Classic with 27 home runs in hand, already well on his way to topping last year’s total of 31 in his second season as the Rockies’ regular catcher.
What stands out now is the timing. Goodman has homered to tie the game or put Colorado ahead three times in about two months, then followed that with seven more such blasts in the 41 days leading into Friday’s game in San Francisco. Some of those shots came early, but plenty have landed in the late innings when the Rockies needed a jolt.
On June 1 against the Angels, he went deep in the eighth against José Fermin and helped spark a win. On June 26 against the Twins, he homered in the ninth off Anthony Banda as part of a rally that pushed the game into extra innings.
The raw power has been there all along. The consistency has caught up to it.
Goodman opened the season with nine homers through April, then hit just four in May while batting .219. Since then, he has piled up 14 homers, including 13 in June.
“It’s nice when you’re getting good pitches to hit,” Goodman said. “That’s not always the case in this league. [Lately] I’ve gotten a lot of pitches to hit and I’ve been able to capitalize on that.”
That damage has come with a sharper feel for the strike zone, too. Goodman’s growth as a catcher matters here, especially with the Rockies having mostly moved away from the early-season habit of relaying pitches from the dugout. He’s also improving his throwing, while still bringing the one thing he’s already known for behind the plate: the ability to keep pitches in the dirt from getting away.
Goodman knows there’s still work left.
“With the catching stuff, there’s still stuff I need to do,” Goodman said. “The accuracy and throwing can be kind of iffy.
We’re working on it and it’s gotten better over the last few weeks. And [offensively] there’s the pitch selection thing.
Sometimes when I get into funks, I want to swing at everything.”
The power plays up against breaking balls, and Goodman has been punishing those pitches all season. Going into Friday, he led the Majors with 12 home runs off breaking balls this year. Over the last two seasons, his 25 homers on breaking balls were tied with the Rays’ Junior Caminero for the major league lead.
“When he’s on, he’s hammering the fastball,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “He’s hammering mistake breaking balls, as well. When Goody is on the fastball, all things are on.”
That kind of production doesn’t happen by accident. It also doesn’t come without the occasional rough at-bat.
On May 23 against the Diamondbacks, Goodman came up with two outs in the ninth and Colorado trailing 5-4. Facing veteran closer Paul Sewald, he chased a slider low and away after getting ahead 2-0, then saw two more pitches in the same area before striking out swinging to end the game.
Goodman called that stretch a “funk.” A week later, he handled the moment differently. Against Banda on June 26, he laid off two low pitches, stayed patient, and then crushed a four-seam fastball.
That kind of adjustment is what has caught the eye of Rockies hitting coach Jordan Pacheco, who worked with Goodman in the Minors.
“It’s having a professional at-bat and not changing who he is in that situation,” Pacheco said. “That comes with experience, being in that situation over and over again.
“You’re going to have to reel him back in sometimes, but that’s easier than trying to get a guy to go harder. He’s learning to handle those situations and coming through in more of them.”
That evolution is why Goodman is an All-Star again, and why the Rockies can count on him when the game is on the line. As Goodman put it, the next step is keeping pace with the adjustments that come once a player starts putting together a season like this one.
“If you have a good season, people are going to try to make adjustments,” Goodman said. “You’ve got to be able to adjust to that.”
In Other News...
Rockies Bring Back John Brebbia As Bullpen Questions Keep Growing
With the Rockies bullpen questions still piling up, the club has brought John Brebbia back into the organization on a minor league deal and sent him to Triple-A Albuquerque. It is another familiar stop for the veteran right-hander, who has already spent much of the season shuttling between Triple-A affiliates while trying to work his way back into the picture.
Brebbia had elected free agency after being outrighted off Colorados roster, and his brief big league look this year included three appearances for the Rockies. For now, the assignment gives Colorado another experienced arm to keep tabs on, even if the path back to Denver will depend on whether he can sharpen things in Albuquerque. [Read more 🡒]
Rockies Offense Is Finally Giving Fans A Reason To Believe
The offensive uptick has given Colorado something it has lacked for much of the season: a stretch that actually looks sustainable enough to watch. Over the last month, the Rockies have gone 5-3 while putting up six or more runs in five games, a run that has included a couple of outbursts that reminded everyone what this lineup can look like when its working.
Hunter Goodman has been at the center of it, with nine homers and 18 RBIs over his last 25 games, and rookie Cole Carrigg has added a jolt of his own since debuting on June 9. Even with that progress, the bigger picture still hangs over the clubhouse, because the Rockies have not gotten to 40 wins yet and the question now is whether this surge can become more than a welcome midseason blip. [Read more 🡒]
Rockies Fans Have Every Right To Feel Snubbed Over Hunter Goodman
Hunter Goodman has given the Rockies exactly the kind of power season that should make him part of the Home Run Derby conversation. The Colorado slugger has climbed to second in the National League in home runs, and his recent surge has only strengthened the case that he belongs on the midsummer stage with the games biggest boppers.
Still, the Derby picture is not fully set, and Goodman remains on the outside looking in as the invitation list takes shape. With several spots already spoken for and a couple still open, the Rockies are left waiting to see whether one of their most productive bats gets the nod he has earned. [Read more 🡒]