Welcome to the 2025 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we look back at each player to determine playing time for the Rockies in 2025. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizational principle derived from WAR (rWAR) from Baseball Reference. It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll start with the player with the lowest rWAR and end with the player with the highest.
No. 1, Hunter Goodman (3.7 rWAR)
What a difference a year can make.
When we ran our Ranking the Rockies series at the end of the 2024 season, Hunter Goodman clocked in no place. 49 of 54 with -0.8 Wins Above Replacement. He was coming off a season in which he battled a host of veterans for playing time in the outfield, at first base and behind home plate. In 70 games and 211 at-bats, he hit .190/.228/.417 with 64 strikeouts and eight walks. His batting average was above the Mendoza line only twice, peaking at .204, and his on-base percentage was above .250 only once – all the way back in early May.
However, Goodman ended 2024 on a somewhat high note. In the month of September, he hit .226/.255/.547 with two doubles and five home runs, bringing his season home run total to 13. He also appeared behind the plate in 12 of his 16 games played.
Goodman had made his Major League debut as a catcher early in the 2024 season as a necessity due to injuries on the active roster. The Rockies increased catching duties sporadically throughout the season, culminating in five straight starts at catcher to end the year.
The Rockies entered spring training this season with the idea of having veteran Jacob Stallings as the starting catcher after signing him back to another year. The lanky Goodman would compete for the backup role against the more defensive-minded top prospect Drew Romo.
Those plans were quickly put aside when Goodman put in an impressive Cactus League performance. In 19 games and 45 at-bats, he hit .444/.500/.822 with six doubles, a triple, three home runs and 10 RBI. He struck out just four times and walked four. During spring training, he played almost exclusively behind the plate with two appearances as a design hitter.
Goodman entered the 2025 season in a role he hadn’t filled since his senior year at the University of Memphis in 2021: the everyday starting catcher. Stallings was demoted to backup while Romo was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque.
He never looked back and never gave the Rockies the opportunity to regret their decision. Not only was Goodman one of the Rockies’ best overall hitters in the first half of the season, he was also one of the best hitting catchers in baseball. He hit .277/.325/.517 with 18 doubles, four triples, 17 home runs and 52 RBI in the first half with a 116 wRC+ on his way to being named the Rockies’ lone All-Star for the 2025 Midsummer Classic.
Unlike other first-half darlings like 2024’s Ryan McMahon, Goodman didn’t slow down in the second half. After the All-Star break, he hit .279/.321/.525 with 10 more doubles, a triple, 14 home runs and 39 RBIs.
Goodman finished the season as the Rockies’ leader in OPS+ and wRC+, hitting .278/.323/.520 in 144 games – more than double the games he played in 2024 – and leading the Rockies in hits (150), doubles (28), home runs (31), RBIs (91) and total bases (281). He also hit the second-most triples on the team with 5.
Goodman’s 2025 campaign was the best season by a Rockies catcher in franchise history, setting franchise records for hits, home runs, RBIs and WAR by a primary catcher, beating previous marks set by Wilin Rosario and Chris Iannetta. He was also the first Rockies hitter to hit 30 or more home runs since 2019.
Despite never being a primary catcher at the professional level, Goodman thrived. He hit significantly better when he lined up behind the plate, slashing .290/.323/.572 with 28 home runs in 412 at-bats compared to .250/.325/.375 with two home runs in 144 at-bats as a DH.
“When I catch that day, the stuff behind the board is more important than the stuff in the box,” Goodman explains. “So just being able to kind of forget about my at-bats, whether I’m doing good or bad, and go catch again and then reset for the next at-bat, I think it’s a little easier to do that when I’m behind the plate.”
For his efforts, Goodman was named the National League Silver Slugger for catchers, beating out fellow All-Star Will Smith of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the award.
Goodman didn’t just contribute at the plate, though. He contributed to it. As expected in late 2024 and early 2025 for someone who hadn’t caught regularly since college, Goodman’s defense was a bit rough. However, he steadily improved throughout the season. By the end of the year, he had significantly improved his above-average blocks and pitch framing, placing him in the top half of catchers in the league. He also improved his pop time.
The Rockies entered 2025 unsure about their catching future. Hunter Goodman forced the issue. Stallings was granted his unconditional release before the All-Star break, and former top prospect Romo was quietly waived this offseason to free up roster space.
It appears the newest franchise catcher has arrived, and manager Warren Schaeffer believes he can continue to improve.
“He did well, his body held up,” said Schaffer. “So now it’s about pushing him. How much can you push him to play next year? I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he goes 40 to 45.” [homers].”
The Rockies will have to see if Goodman can repeat or build on his performance next season, but before 2025 he was one of the only stars shining brightly in the darkness of a brutal losing season.
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