Yes, the Colorado Rockies were a franchise-worst 43-119 last year. But one of the few bright spots was Hunter Goodman earning the Rockies’ lone All-Star nod in just his first season in the Majors as a full-time catcher. No, Goodman was not just a player who had to be selected as part of each team needing to be represented at the Midsummer Classic. Goodman earned the honor. Tying for second league-wide among catchers with 31 home runs and finishing third among catchers with 91 RBI and an .843 OPS. Earning his first career Silver Slugger award for his stellar offensive season. It would have been reasonable to expect regression this season. But Goodman has only built on his All-Star season.
Hunter Goodman Has Not Slowed Down
Goodman was unequivocally the Rockies’ best player last season. Goodman producing offensively like he was while handling everyday catching duties is truly an impressive feat. But for how great he was offensively, there were concerning underlying metrics. Per Statcast, Goodman ranked in the bottom-eighth percentile league-wide with a 32% whiff rate and 36.7% chase rate. Additionally, he struck out at a 26.3% rate.
But those issues were masked by Goodman leading the Rockies by a wide margin in both home runs and RBI. While not at the strikeout levels of Michael Toglia, this pattern did serve as a stark reminder of Toglia’s downfall. Toglia was a breakout player for the Rockies in 2024, finishing second on the team with 25 homers. But when his power went away in 2025, his strikeout issues moved to the forefront, and he had a very disappointing season, dealing with several demotions.
This is not to compare the two players exactly; Toglia was never an All-Star and did not play at the level Goodman did for a full season. But Toglia isn’t the only Rockie that has fallen victim to this pattern of regression. Nolan Jones experienced a very similar pattern of events following a Rookie-of-the-Year-level season in 2023. Both Toglia and Jones were out of the Rockies organization shortly after their disastrous seasons. Luckily for the Rockies and their fans, Goodman has proven to be more sustainable. Even if there are still concerning metrics.
Stats Do lie…kind Of
“The stats don’t lie.” A common refrain used often in the sports world to emphasize a player matching what their on-paper stats show. In Goodman’s case, he has actually regressed in his most problematic categories from last season.
2025 per Statcast:
- 36.7% chase rate
- 32% whiff rate
- 26.3% K rate
- 21.7% squared-up rate
2026 per Statcast:
- 41.5% chase rate
- 34.2% whiff rate
- 33.3% K rate
- 17.9% squared-up rate
If you were told these numbers before the season, you would assume Goodman followed the path of Toglia and Jones. Instead, Goodman’s 119 WRC+ ranks second among Rockies with at least 100 plate appearances.
Additionally, his 21 home runs give him a three-home-run lead among catchers league-wide and are good for fourth in the league overall as of this writing. Eight of those home runs coming in a scorching June for Goodman, in which he has hit .293 with 17 hits, 16 RBI, and 12 runs scored in 15 games. Overall, he has improved his OPS from .843 in 2025 to .852 this season. So what gives? How has Goodman simultaneously improved from last season while regressing in several categories that often doom MLB hitters?
VOTE GOODY ⭐️https://t.co/WDjLr0xoEt pic.twitter.com/iWc7GoPm3o
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) June 18, 2026
Proving He Is Here To Stay?
For starters, Goodman is finding the barrel way more often. He has improved his barrel rate from a respectable 12.9% last season to a stellar 16% this season, good for the 94th percentile in the MLB, per Statcast. He’s also seen slight improvement in his bat speed. Additionally, on balls hit to the pull side, Goodman has significantly raised his air% from 25.4% last season to 32.9% this season.
These improvements have managed to offset Goodman’s regression in the problematic areas of his game from last season. But the analytics still aren’t sold. Goodman’s xBA of .233 is 18 points lower than his actual batting average of .251. Showing that he has benefited from some luck this season. He also has a solid 12 batting run value this season, good for the 86th percentile league-wide. But well behind his 27 batting run value from last season.
Perhaps the analytics will prove to be right, and Goodman’s whiff and K rates will catch up with him later this season. But that’s what you could have said about Goodman before this season, and all he has done is improve on his stellar 2025 All-Star campaign. He is on pace to earn his second consecutive All-Star nod and could yet again be the Rockies’ sole representative. The numbers help paint the picture, but they are never the whole picture. At some point, the surface stats just speak for themselves. The surface stats for Goodman show that he has continued to be one of the best Rockies offensively, and at this point, there’s no reason to think that won’t continue.
Main Photo Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images
