A few years back, we asked each of our beat reporters to rank the top five players by position in the history of their franchise, based on their career while playing for that club. These rankings were for fun and debate purposes only. Here is an update at the catching position. … One bias here: Hunter Goodman has quickly become the Rockies’ most offensively productive and the most All Star-decorated catcher in Rockies history. While the lack of postseason appearances is not Goodman’s fault, playing in October still matters. Feel free to argue.
Here is Thomas Harding’s ranking of the top five catchers in Rockies history.
1. Yorvit Torrealba (2006-09, '13)
Key fact: .805 postseason OPS in 15 Rockies postseason games, .694 career regular-season OPS
Torrealba's Fangraphs 3.2 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) is third in franchise history, but he’s No. 1 on this list for his take-charge work during the 2007 World Series and the '09 postseason run.
“I was tough on pitchers,” Torrealba said. “I want to win no matter what. And I would tell the pitchers, ‘Just throw what I tell you to throw.’ I’m sure some of them were like, ‘What the hell? Who does he think he is?’ But I was confident the signs I put down to be right. I would tell them, 'If I want a pitch in the dirt, I’ll block it,' and when I was wrong, I was the first to say, ‘I should’ve listened to you.’ My offense was secondary.”
Torrealba’s biggest moment was a three-run homer against the D-backs in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series sweep of the D-backs in 2007. It came off Livan Hernandez, his mentor from when he broke in with the Giants.
“I went up to bat thinking, ‘Man, this is wild to be up in this situation -- he really took care of me when I broke in with the Giants, and he’s a good friend,’” Torrealba said. “But I fought off a couple tough breaking balls, then got a 3-2 fastball that was a little inside.”
Torrealba admitted hard feelings when the club didn’t retain him after the 2009 season. But he loved the Rockies and was more than happy to answer when then-GM Dan O’Dowd called before 2013, his final season.
“I can’t put into words what the Rockies mean to me,” Torrealba said. “The Rockies were really the first team to give me a chance to play full-time, and I’ll always remember that. There were things with Dan I disagreed with and things with me he disagreed with. But it meant so much to come back. Jim Tracy [who took over in 2009 and led the team to the postseason] is one of my favorite managers, and I respect Dan O’Dowd to this day.”
2. Hunter Goodman (2023-present)
Key fact: In just four seasons, Goodman has eclipsed club catching records for home runs (86) and risen to third in RBIs (232)
Goodman has become one of the game’s best power hitters. In 2026, he socked 41 homers, 25 of which came away from the hitter-friendly confines of Coors Field.
Primarily a catcher at the University of Memphis before the Rockies drafted him in the fourth round in 2021, Goodman played multiple positions and moved quickly through the Minor Leagues because of his bat. But he turned heads with his catching during Spring Training 2025. Since then, he has rapidly improved at the physical aspects of the position, and shows special leadership skills while developing his game-calling.
3. Chris Iannetta (2006-11, '18-19)
Key fact: Iannetta’s 293 RBIs is easily the club record for catchers, and his 80 homers trail only Goodman
Iannetta was Torrealba’s backup during the 2007 and '09 postseason runs, but he had his turn to be the No. 1 catcher on a playoff team in '18 with a young Rockies pitching staff. Iannetta caught 99 games, a healthy number in an atmosphere that wears on catchers, as the Rox led the league in starter innings pitched. A Rockies fourth-round pick in the 2004 MLB Draft, Iannetta was a creative game-caller even in his youngest day and his knowledge helped the staff during his return to the club. Iannetta is with the Yankees under a Minor League contract.
4. Joe Girardi (1993-95)
Key fact: Girardi’s 2,509 innings caught, fourth most in club history, were reduced by the strike-shortened 1994 and '95 seasons
The main catcher the first three years of the franchise, Girardi was at his most durable in 1995 -- when he appeared in 125 of the 144 games of that shortened season. The 0.3 fWAR and 68 Weighted Runs Created-plus (wRC+) aren't eye-popping, but nurturing an expansion pitching staff to what was at the time the earliest playoff berth in history (three years) tramples those numbers. Girardi was also the Rockies’ player representative through the labor discord in '95.
5. Elias Díaz (2020-24)
Key fact: Díaz’s 462 games caught in a Rockies uniform rank second only to Iannetta’s 620
Díaz not only became the first catcher in club history to make it to the All-Star Game, but his eighth-inning home run in the 2023 contest in Seattle made the National League a 3-2 winner and earned him the Most Valuable Player honor.
Signed under the radar going into the 2020 season, Díaz became the team’s starter by the end of that season and posted 5.2 Baseball-Reference WAR in a Rockies uniform – second in club history only to Iannetta’s 7.1.