SAN FRANCISCO — Hunter Goodman rakes.
His skills at the plate made him the Rockies’ lone All-Star and produced the best offensive season by a catcher in franchise history. Proof is in the numbers: his 30 home runs, 147 hits, 62 extra-base hits, and 90 RBIs are all the most in a season for a Rockies’ primary catcher.
Goodman’s skills behind the plate and his growth as a game caller and student of the game are not as easily measured. But the Rockies say the 25-year-old has made huge strides since the club turned him into a full-time catcher in spring training.
“Overall, it’s been seen by people throughout the league that ‘Goody’ has become an everyday starting catcher who produces offensively, but I see him turning into a great defensive catcher,” veteran left-hander Kyle Freeland said Friday before the Rockies played the Giants at Oracle Park to begin their final series of the 2025 season.
“I think how he’s grown behind the dish speaks volumes about his ability to learn, adjust, and do things on the fly, very quickly, has been impressive.”
Some of Goodman’s improved defensive skills, particularly his ability to block balls in the dirt, are apparent. Interim manager Warren Schaeffer calls it “exceptional.”
Goodman still has a way to go in throwing out base stealers, as his low 16% caught-stealing rate shows. However, the more subtle aspects of Goodman’s all-around game — pitch calling, receiving, and knowledge of opposing hitters — have been impressive.
“The start of this season feels like a long time ago,” Goodman said. “I didn’t feel all that comfortable back there, to be honest with you. But as the season has gone on, I think the progress has been really good. Whether it’s blocking, receiving or throwing, I think it’s gone in the right direction.”
Schaeffer, Freeland and Goodman all say that Goodman’s growth as a game-caller has steadily improved as the season has gone on. However, Goodman said he has made the most progress with pitch framing.
“I’ve spent a lot of time working on receiving, or pitch framing, whatever you want to call it,” he said. “I worked really hard on that during the offseason and during spring training. I really wanted to clean some of that stuff up.”
Statcast measures pitch framing, in part, by measuring a catcher’s “shadow zone.” Statcast defines the “shadow zone” as the two-baseball-width area around the edges of the strike zone, representing pitches that are borderline and could be called balls or strikes. This zone is crucial for pitch framing, where catchers use their presentation to influence umpires into calling borderline pitches strikes. Goodman’s 43% shadow strike rate ranks 17th in the majors.
“His receiving has improved a ton, and he’s turning a lot of those pitches into strikes, and now he sits right in the middle of the pack, statistically,” Schaeffer said. “For somebody who is an impactful offensive catcher, that’s pretty dang good.
“And all of that improvement, his blocking, framing, his relationship with our pitchers, is the result of a lot of hard work. The results are showing that.”
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