Can This Rockies Catcher Keep up His Pace During Breakout Season?

The MLB has seen a surge in offensive production league-wide from catchers this season, and that includes the Colorado Rockies' power hitter.

Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The Colorado Rockies' 2025 MLB campaign offers few positives.

Entering play on June 23, the Rockies hold the worst record in baseball at 18-60 and rank near the bottom of the league in meaningful metrics.

That includes being 27th in batting average (.228), 25th in OPS (.673) and owning a league-worst 26.7% strikeout rate and 73 wRC+.

More News: Rockies Considering Hiring Exiled Manager Back in New Role

That all changes when accounting for positional splits that highlight the breakout campaign by Colorado catcher Hunter Goodman.

Using the catcher positional split on FanGraphs, the Rockies suddenly jump into a tie for seventh in batting average (.264), seventh in OPS (.772) and 13th in wRC+ (99) — the 28.6% strikeout rate is still No. 28 in the league.

Goodman is among several catchers who are having a stellar offensive season, one that has catchers outperforming the MLB average OPS by nine points.

Goodman was one of the breakout stars named in a recent article by Andrea Arcadipane of The Athletic (subscription required).

Entering play on June 23, Goodman is slashing .284/.328/.514 with a .842 OPS, 122 OPS+, 14 home runs, 48 RBI and 81 strikeouts to 16 walks.

His three-year career average is .238/.280/.462 with a .742 OPS and 94 OPS+.

Goodman is on pace to have a career high in every metric if he keeps this up.

That includes his 1.6 WAR through 74 games played, a .230 ISO, and career-low 26.8% strikeout rate.

More News: Colorado Rockies Top Five Prospect's Hot Hitting Could Expedite MLB Call-Up

Arcadipane points to Goodman’s elite power that has carried him to this point, but the article also describes areas that need to improve: his whiffs and walk rate.

His whiff percentage is up 1.2% from last season with a 32.7% whiff rate.

In addition, his walk rate is up 1.7% from last season, which is a disappointing turn after bringing it down 2.9% in 2024.

“Goodman has an aggressive approach, but it can often be too aggressive, leading to chases and poor swing decisions. His below-average contact skills are exacerbating the poor results of his swing decisions by frequently causing him to fall behind in the count. Pitchers can capitalize on his aggressive approach—Goodman is easily tempted by high fastballs and breaking pitches down and away,” Arcadipane writes.

His problem is the quality of his contact, which a bit of luck may have obscured.

His slugging percentage (0.558) on off-speed balls compared to his expected slugging percentage (0.404), and on breaking balls (0.549 SLG, 0.398 xSLG), shows a discrepancy that may lead to a regression without adjustments.

His plate discipline needs to improve, but that will come with time, as the young catcher is just in his third season.

More News: Colorado Rockies' Batting Practice Adjustments Yield Success Away from Home

It’s not likely that he’ll be able to make significant enough adjustments within the 2025 campaign, but he has shown small growth with his chase percentage down from 39.9% in 2024 to 36.2%.

Time and experience will bring about adjustments, but Goodman has demonstrated unteachable elite power this year.

His 116.2 max exit velocity is tied for 14th in baseball, and his 52% hard-hit rate is 25th.

While he needs to work on hitting off-speed and breaking balls, his contact quality is better against fastballs, where he’s slugging .468 with a .559 expected slugging percentage.

Rarely do catchers lead a team with 14 home runs, 48 RBI and slugging percentage while also being second in OPS and OPS+, but the Rockies can enjoy a bright spot in a dim season with the production of Goodman.

For more Rockies news, head over the Rockies On SI.