CHICAGO - Hunter Goodman crossed the 40-homer line Saturday night, and he did it in style.
In the third inning at Rate Field, the Rockies catcher flashed a thumbs-up while wearing the club’s purple pretend pelt, the goofy home-run prize that somehow fit the moment perfectly. Goodman had been eyeing the milestone for a while, and once he got there, the celebration only kept rolling. He later added his 41st homer of the season, a three-run blast in the seventh inning of Colorado’s 9-6 win over the White Sox.
“I've been thinking about it. Since you hit 39, you’re thinking about 40,” Goodman said. “It was pretty awesome to be able to do it.”
The second homer also pushed Goodman into a place no National League catcher has reached on the road before. His 25 road homers are the most ever for an NL primary catcher, moving past Hall of Famer Johnny Bench’s 24 for the Reds in 1972.
“I didn’t know about it before the game,” Goodman said, adding that he has never met Bench but would welcome the chance. “When you get mentioned with guys like that that were so great in the past, it’s a pretty cool moment.”
Goodman’s 41 homers are the most by an NL catcher since the Braves’ Javier López hit 43 in 2003. They’re also the most by a Rockies player since Nolan Arenado reached 41 in 2019.
After the second homer, Goodman came back around the bases and slipped into the purple pelt again, then circled his right index finger in the air. Officially, that gesture marks a home run. In this case, it also looked like a signal that Colorado’s power show should keep going.
The Rockies seem to agree.
Multiple conversations with club personnel indicate Colorado intends to keep resisting trade interest in Goodman, after turning away inquiries around the August Trade Deadline. That would give him a chance to keep adding to the franchise’s short list of repeat 40-homer seasons. Of the nine Rockies players who have reached 40 in a year, only four have done it more than once: Nolan Arenado four times, Vinny Castilla three times, Todd Helton twice and Andres Galarraga twice.
The win was only Colorado’s eighth in its last 37 games, a stretch that sent the Rockies to 58-103 and locked in their fourth straight season with 100-plus losses. Even so, conversations with club officials suggest the front office expects to be aggressive once trades and signings can happen after the World Series.
Goodman gives them a lot to think about. He turns 27 on Oct. 8, will be arbitration-eligible for the first time this offseason and is under club control through 2030. At the same time, several factors point toward Colorado keeping him.
Star pitchers in their prime rarely choose the Rockies. Goodman is expected to be a leader for inexperienced arms who will make up a significant part of the staff and know what it takes to catch at Coors Field.
And even with the club’s rough finish, the offense has been much better than last year’s 43-119 group, when Goodman hit 31 homers. Moving a power bat like that at a position that usually doesn’t supply much of it would be a step backward.
There’s also no sign the Rockies believe they’re close enough to contention to justify dealing him.
Goodman, meanwhile, sounds eager to keep doing damage for a better Rockies club down the road.
“You look at a lot of guys in here,” Goodman said. “[Veteran outfielder] Mickey Moniak, they just signed him for two more years.
We all want to turn this place around. Rockies fans have been amazing to us, still continuing to show up and fill seats even when we’re not having good seasons.
I want to see that place when we are having good seasons, to see how much more support people give us.”
Saturday also offered another look at the kind of two-way effort the Rockies want to build around.
In his second start back after missing four months with a left elbow sprain, Jose Quintana threw 59 pitches over three innings and gave up solo homers to ex-Rockie Brenton Doyle and Luisangel Acuña, but nothing else. Ryan Feltner followed with another solid “piggyback” outing, allowing one unearned run in 3 2/3 innings, and Brennan Bernardino closed the eighth by getting Colson Montgomery to ground into a double play.
The ninth got a little messy when Goodman let a third strike get away, putting more pressure on Jordan Romano, who allowed Andrew Benintendi’s three-run homer with no outs before settling in and getting through the inning.
“That’s a lot on your plate, especially as a catcher that has to play every day at Coors Field,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “It’s a very demanding position, and it’s leveled up in Coors Field with how demanding it is on your body.
For [Goodman] to hit 41, be an All-Star... and he’s the best guy with the ABS all year. He’s led the pitchers.
They love throwing to him.”
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