Hunter Goodman hits two home runs in Rockies win

DENVER – Rockies rookie Hunter Goodman admitted he smiles a little broader when told he is playing catcher — a position the Rockies moved him from in the Minors in order to get him to the Majors quicker.

“I get excited,” Goodman said Saturday night, after celebrating his second career start at catcher by crushing two home runs among his four hits and driving in five runs in a 16-4 victory over the Pirates on Saturday night at Coors Field. “You’re part of every pitch.”

But the pitches that Goodman hit were the ones that made Saturday special.

Goodman swatted his third homer of the season, a solo shot off Pirates starter Jared Jones to open the third inning. Goodman added an RBI double in the fourth and an infield single (before later scoring) in the sixth. Goodman added a two-run shot to straightaway center off reliever Justin Bruihl in the seventh, and capped his night with an RBI groundout in the eighth.

Before Saturday, Goodman grasped for consistency amid irregular playing time.

A fourth-round pick out of the University of Memphis in 2021, Goodman was called up from Albuquerque on April 27 after he had homered seven times in eight Triple-A games — and went deep 79 times in 283 games over four Minor League seasons. But Goodman has largely struggled against Major League pitching. Before Saturday, he had appeared in 22 games, including 17 starts mostly in right field and at first base, and batted .156 with two homers this season.

Goodman uses a leg kick as a timing mechanism, but rhythm proved difficult until Saturday.

“There’s no question it’s a confidence builder,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “It’s been a little uneven for Goody, even going back to last year. He’s learning about big league pitching and how it relates to his leg kick.

“Tonight, he showed the power that he has — 36 home runs in the Minors last year. There’s power in there, and it’s generated a lot by how he swings and his mechanics. A lot of times, that leg kick can be variable. But tonight it worked.”

The return from Albuquerque and re-emergence of Michael Toglia, who launched his first career grand slam in the eighth, threatened to make Goodman’s playing time more irregular. But Goodman, who entered the night in 0-for-16 wilderness, has tinkered behind the scenes.

“We’ve been working on some stuff in the cage through all the games over the last few weeks, trying to work on that consistency with my move in the box and just staying a little shorter and under control to the ball,” Goodman said. “It helped tonight.”

Playing time suddenly opened this week.

The Rockies’ placement of Elias Díaz on the injured list on Friday with a left calf injury increased Jacob Stallings’ share of backstop duties. But it also meant Goodman — who caught eyes with his defensive skills in Spring Training and at Albuquerque this year — would see some time behind the plate.

Goodman was primarily a catcher in college, but has just 72 catching appearances in the Minors. During one of his regular pregame inquiries in the dugout this week, Black allowed, “We should have played him more there.”

Starter Ty Blach spent extra time with Goodman to prepare and had more pitcher-catcher talk in the dugout than usual between innings. Blach struck out five and held the Pirates to two runs and seven hits across 5 2/3 innings.

“I had ultimate confidence in how he’s going to receive and we spend a lot of time just going over how we want to attack those guys and we’re able to really get on the same page,” Blach said.

Goodman’s sizzling bat even overshadowed the odd highlight of the night. Ryan McMahon, noted for his defense and occasional power — but not speed — pulled off a delayed steal of home in the fifth.

On advice from third-base coach Warren Schaeffer, McMahon took note of catcher Yasmani Grandal’s slovenly lobs back to the mound. And with left-handed-hitting Nolan Jones at the plate, Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes was playing far from third base and in no position to chase McMahon back to the bag.

With the count at 1-2, Grandal looked toward McMahon, who feigned returning to third. McMahon dashed across the plate as Jones snapped Grandal’s lob in disgust out of the Mile High sky.