Hunter Goodman is already sitting on a slice of Rockies history, and there’s still a month left for him to add to it.
The Colorado catcher has 36 home runs, which is now the franchise high for a catcher in a single season. That number moved him past the mark he set last year, and it also gives him the most by an NL catcher since Javy Lopez launched 43 in 2003. With the season entering its final stretch, Goodman has a realistic shot at becoming the sixth catcher in National League history to reach 40 homers.
That group is small and star-studded: Lopez, Mike Piazza, Todd Hundley, Johnny Bench and Roy Campanella.
Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh owns the MLB record with 60, set last season, and that’s a mountain too steep for Goodman to chase. But after returning last week from a 10-day absence with a left shoulder injury and homering in each of his first two games back, he gave fans plenty of reason to daydream about 50.
“It’s hard not to think about it every now and then,” Goodman said. “I probably think about it more when I’m sitting at home on the couch or something like that.
“But during a game, I’m not really thinking about that stuff. I have thoughts like, ‘Who’s the guy coming out of the bullpen?
What is he throwing me?’ Or, ‘How are we going to get this guy out when he comes to the plate?’”
Goodman got a look at Raleigh late last season in Seattle, when he was tracking toward 31 homers, the previous Rockies catcher record. He said the two spoke around the bullpen and compared notes on their seasons, and he came away impressed.
“We talked a little bit out by the bullpen, congratulating each other on our seasons last year,” Goodman said. “We didn’t talk much about hitting, per se.
But we had a pretty good conversation. He’s an awesome guy and I root for him.”
That kind of offensive production from behind the plate is unusual for a reason. Catchers carry the physical load of the position, but they also shoulder the mental work of game-calling and handling pitchers. Goodman lives in that grind every night.
His latest hurdle is the lead shoulder in his swing, the one he extends as he drives the ball to left field so often. The treatments after games will keep coming the rest of the year, but Goodman isn’t making a fuss.
“It’s a mindset thing -- I don’t know if it’s just because I’m catching,” Goodman said. “It’s the end of the year, so a decent amount of guys in this locker room are playing through stuff. It’s a long, grueling season and you have to learn to deal with things and go out there.”
The Rockies have had their own grind over the past 16 days. After going 5-4 on their best road trip of the season, they dropped 12 of 14 before Tuesday’s 4-2 win over the Orioles.
Seven of those losses came by two runs or fewer. In some of those games, the Rockies were undone by late defensive gems from opponents, including the Braves and, especially, the Orioles on Colton Cowser’s leaping catch that denied Jake McCarthy a walk-off homer.
That mix of being so close and still coming up short has left the Rockies with both encouragement and frustration.
“I can only speak for myself, but it’s all of the above,” Goodman said. “You watch these games and we were in them, so that’s a positive.
But it’s frustrating at the same time because we are right there. We have a chance to win these ballgames but we’re not finding that way to win in those last innings.”