{"id":108697,"date":"2025-10-22T20:38:51","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T00:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=108697"},"modified":"2025-10-22T20:38:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T00:38:51","slug":"hunter-goodman-recognized-stellar-offensive-season-silver-slugger-nod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/10\/22\/hunter-goodman-recognized-stellar-offensive-season-silver-slugger-nod\/","title":{"rendered":"Hunter Goodman Recognized for Stellar Offensive Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The MLB Silver Slugger finalists came out on Wednesday, October 22, and Colorado Rockies right-handed hitting catcher <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/goodmhu01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hunter Goodman<\/a> is one of them. Goodman had a career year offensively, leading the Rockies in batting average. (.278), home runs (31), RBI (91), and OPS (.843) among Rockies who played in at least 100 games. Other National League candidates for catcher are the Milwaukee Brewers&#8217; <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/contrwi02.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">William Contreras<\/a> and the Los Angeles Dodgers&#8217; <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/smithwi05.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Will Smith<\/a>. Smith has never won the award, while Contreras won Silver Sluggers in 2023-24 with the Brewers.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_103943\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-103943\" style=\"width: 843px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-103943\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26571893-300x196.jpg\" alt=\"Hunter Goodman has excelled at the plate this season. Could his numbers come back down to earth in 2026?\" width=\"843\" height=\"551\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26571893-300x196.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26571893-1024x668.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26571893-768x501.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26571893-1536x1002.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/07\/USATSI_26571893-2048x1336.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 843px) 100vw, 843px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-103943\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jul 1, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman (15) runs off a solo home run in the ninth inning against the Houston Astros at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Hunter Goodman Gets Silver Slugger Nomination<\/h2>\n<h3>History of Rockies&#8217; Silver Slugger Award Winners<\/h3>\n<p>Former Rockies shortstop <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/storytr01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trevor Story<\/a> was the last Rockie to win a Silver Slugger in 2019. Considering the Rockies play their home games at the hitter&#8217;s haven that is Coors Field, the Silver Slugger drought paints a clear picture of how bad <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/05\/09\/beyond-defeat-rockies-slide\/\" target=\"_self\">this Rockies&#8217; offense<\/a> has been. The Rockies had at least two Silver Sluggers each season from 2015-19, with a high-water mark of three in 2018 when <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/marquge01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Germ\u00e1n M\u00e1rquez<\/a> (pitcher), <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/arenano01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nolan Arenado<\/a> (third base), and Story all won.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Rockies?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Rockies<\/a> Hunter Goodman is a finalist for National League Silver Slugger Award. Other NL catcher finalists are Brewers\u2019 William Contreras and Dodgers\u2019 Will Smith. Goodman has best statistical case for award with 31 HR, 91 RBIs, .520 slugging, .843 OPS<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kyle Newman (@KyleNewmanDP) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KyleNewmanDP\/status\/1981012754506105005?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 22, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Goodman&#8217;s 31 home runs this season were the most by a Rockie since <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/croncj01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">C.J. Cron<\/a> hit 29 in 2022. Goodman is the first Rockie to hit 30+ home runs since Arenado (41), Story (35), and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/blackch02.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Charlie Blackmon<\/a> (32) in 2019. He also passed <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rosarwi01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wilin Rosario<\/a>&#8216;s 28 home runs in 2012 for the most single-season home runs by a catcher in Rockies&#8217; history. Goodman would be the first Rockies catcher to win a Silver Slugger.<\/p>\n<h3>Well-Deserved Recognition for Goodman<\/h3>\n<p>Goodman was far and away the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/05\/23\/hunter-goodman-excelling-catcher-rockies\/\" target=\"_self\">Rockies&#8217; bright spot<\/a> in a franchise-worst season. He was near the top of numerous offensive categories among catchers. He tied with the Athletics&#8217; <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/langesh01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shea Langeliers<\/a> for second in home runs with 31. His 91 RBI were behind only the Seattle Mariners&#8217; <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/raleica01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cal Raleigh<\/a> (125) and the Kansas City Royals&#8217; <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/perezsa02.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Salvador Perez<\/a> (100). Those numbers were way up from just 13 home runs and 36 RBI in 70 games in 2024. It was also Goodman&#8217;s first All-Star nod this season as the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/06\/hunter-goodman-announced-lone-rockies-all-star\/\" target=\"_self\">lone representative for the Rockies<\/a>. Additionally, his offensive excellence this season is all the more impressive given that it was his first season as a full-time catcher.<\/p>\n<p>Goodman went out and earned that role with a scorching spring training and did not look back. He was indispensable to the Rockies&#8217; lineup, performing as the designated hitter 39 times when he had a break from catching. He significantly raised his average from just .190 in 2024 to .278 this season over 144 games. His OPS also made a significant jump from .645 to .843, and his WAR improved from -0.8 to 3.7. The next closest Rockie in WAR was <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mcmahry01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryan McMahon<\/a> (1.2), who was traded to the New York Yankees at the trade deadline.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s scary to think about how much worse the Rockies would have been without Goodman. He was the only Rockies&#8217; position player who was even close to deserving of an All-Star selection. The Rockies&#8217; offense, even with Goodman, finished near the bottom of the league in numerous categories. That was in part due to down seasons from shortstop <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/tovarez01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ezequiel Tovar<\/a> and center fielder <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/doylebr02.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brenton Doyle<\/a>. But Goodman put the offense on his back this season and realized his massive power potential. Now, he gets to enjoy his deserved recognition for his stellar offensive season.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The MLB Silver Slugger finalists came out on Wednesday, October 22, and Colorado Rockies right-handed hitting catcher Hunter Goodman is one of them. Goodman had a career year offensively, leading the Rockies in batting average. (.278), home runs (31), RBI (91), and OPS (.843) among Rockies who played in at least 100 games. Other National [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5354,"featured_media":71494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,1071,35],"tags":[626,382,3867,5014,213,3041,624,6434,305,5896],"class_list":["post-108697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rockies","category-mlb","category-news","tag-c-j-cron","tag-charlie-blackmon","tag-german-marquez","tag-hunter-goodman","tag-nolan-arenado","tag-ryan-mcmahon","tag-trevor-story","tag-wilin-rosario","tag-will-smith","tag-william-contreras"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5354"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108697"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108737,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108697\/revisions\/108737"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}