DENVER -- Catcher Hunter Goodman understands inning, count, men on base and all the conditions that should govern the decision to challenge a Rockies pitch that has been called a ball.
But sometimes, Goodman taps the top of his helmet-mask simply because he knows he is correct -- and he usually is.
Goodman tapped Saturday night on Rockies left-hander Brennan Bernardino to the game’s second hitter, Drake Baldwin, to gain a strike. He did the same on Chase Dollander’s first pitch to Matt Olson in the fourth inning and was correct. Goodman missed one in the sixth, trying to save Dollander from a walk to Baldwin.
The night moved Goodman to 20-for-26, or 76.9 percent. Going into Saturday’s games in the first year of the ABS challenge system, the Royals’ Salvador Perez was second at 74 percent, so Goodman will maintain the top spot when the stats re-populate on Sunday morning.
From a Rockies perspective, it would’ve been great if the two makes had flipped the game. But later in that first-inning at-bat, Baldwin blasted a two-run homer, while finishing a triple shy of the cycle, and Chris Sale held the Rockies to one run in seven innings of work as the Rockies absorbed a 9-1 defeat.
When Goodman started challenging on Saturday, he had no idea of the eventual outcome. But Goodman knew he could help his pitcher in real time.
“I haven’t kept up with it that much to know where I rank,” Goodman said. “It’s all a feel thing -- a feel for the strike zone and a feel for how your pitchers’ pitches work, how they move, the angles at which they cross the plate. A lot of that goes into it.
“If I have a feeling of 90 percent, I’m going to come in and fire it off. If I’m 90 percent certain it’s a strike, I’m going to use it. I want the pitcher to get that strike. I want us to get ahead in the count.
“The inning and count make a big difference. You want to have them late in the game, so you don’t want to waste them early. That’s why I try to be at least 90 percent certain. I missed one to Baldwin in the sixth, but I thought it was close and took a shot hoping we didn’t walk him there.”
As keen as Goodman’s eye is while catching, he is 2-for-8 challenging as a hitter.
“Behind the plate, you have a lot better visuals, and it’s a lot less emotional catching,” he said. “Hitters sometimes get emotional, especially on a strike-three call. I’ve been pretty poor at challenging from the offensive side of the ball. It’s a lot more difficult.”
Goodman also threw out Ozzie Albies on a steal attempt in the sixth -- thanks in large part to Dollander’s improvement this year over his rookie year of 2025 in the speed of his deliveries to the plate.
“I’ve thrown out two or three guys with him pitching and last year it would have been really hard to throw guys out -- he’s done a really good job,” Goodman said.
It was an occasion for Goodman, who is tied with Mickey Moniak for the club lead in home runs with nine, to talk about something other than a mercurial bat -- capable of power but also strikeouts. Last year was Goodman’s first as a primary catcher in the Majors.
“I’m trying to take more pride in my defense this year, and I worked on it a lot,” said Goodman, the Rockies’ All-Star Game representative last year. “There were a lot of ups and downs back there last year. I put a lot of emphasis on it.”