Rockies All-Star Talks About ‘Refreshing’ Vibe in Spring Training Clubhouse

Many Colorado Rockies players are noticing a shift in the clubhouse and in the team’s philosophy this spring training.

The new leadership in the Colorado front office has scrutinized everything this offseason. New president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta has called it “raising the floor,” as in raising expectations. General manager Josh Byrnes has talked about increasing competition for positions so that young prospects don’t feel as if they’re being shoved into jobs that they are not ready for. Manager Warren Schaeffer is leveraging his relationships built with young players while he was a minor league manager.

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All-Star catcher Hunter Goodman is not immune to the change. Even though he's one of the few players in the franchise that had a successful 2025, he's noticed that there's been a cultural shift in the Rockies’ clubhouse in spring training that should carry over into the regular season.

Hunter Goodman on the New ‘Vibe’

"There's more of an emphasis on a lot of things that I think we, in the past, haven't put that much emphasis on."@Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman on spring training not compared to last year. #Rockies | @TheSuzieHunter

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— Guerilla Sports (@guerillasports) March 13, 2026

Spring training is all about starting over and the Rockies have done that. As Goodman told Guerilla Sports, the “vibe” is different than in past spring trainings.

“I think there's just more positivity, there's more of an emphasis on a lot of things that I think we in the past haven't put that much [emphasis] on,” he said. “I think the staff changes and stuff like that the guys have brought in, they bring a good vibe with good energy, so it's been really refreshing.”

Colorado had to embrace change after last season. The Rockies lost a franchise-record 119 games and barely avoided tying the Chicago White Sox for the worst record in Major League Baseball history. It was the crescendo of a three-year cycle in which the Rockies lost at least 100 games. Manager Bud Black lost his job in May, and the franchise parted ways with general manager Bill Schmidt, who had been a franchise employee for a quarter-century, after the season.

Goodman is a parting gift from the old regime. Colorado selected him in the fourth round of the 2021 MLB draft out of Memphis and he made his Major League debut behind the plate two years later.

After being a platoon player for two seasons, the right-handed slugger broke through in a big way in 2025. Along with making the All-Star team for the first time, he was named the National League Silver Slugger at catcher after he hit 31 home runs and drove in 91 RBI and 144 games. He slashed .278/.323/.520.

Colorado is hoping to get even more out of Goodman in 2026.