Hunter Robert Goodman (born October 8, 1999) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

for the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023. In 2025, Goodman was named to his first

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

game.

Amateur career

Goodman attended Arlington High School in

Arlington, Tennessee Arlington is a town in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is one of the seven municipalities in Shelby County. The town was officially incorporated as Haysville in 1878 and again as Arlington in 1900. The population was 2,569 at the 2000 census, 1 ...

, and the

University of Memphis The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Memphis Tigers The Memphis Tigers are the athletic teams that represent the University of Memphis, located in Memphis, Tennessee. The teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the American Athletic C ...

for three seasons. He batted .326/.367/.573 with 16 doubles, 13

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, and 67

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBI) as a freshman and was named the

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

(AAC) Newcomer of the Year. After the 2019 season, Goodman played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

for the

Hyannis Harbor Hawks The Hyannis Harbor Hawks, formerly the Hyannis Mets, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Harbor Hawks play ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

, batted .276/.291/.494, and was named a league all-star. He was slashing .357/.416/.743 as a sophomore before the season was cut short due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Goodman slashed .307/.401/.678 with a school record 21 home runs in his junior season.

Professional career

The

selected Goodman in the fourth round of the

2021 Major League Baseball draft The 2021 Major League Baseball draft took place on July 11–13, 2021. In conjunction with the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the draft was held in Denver. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was s ...

. He received a $600,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. In 2021 with the

Arizona Complex League Rockies The Arizona Complex League Rockies are a professional baseball team competing as a Rookie-level affiliate of the Colorado Rockies in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Salt River Fields at Talkin ...

, he slashed .300/.419/.517. Goodman began the 2022 season with the

Fresno Grizzlies The Fresno Grizzlies are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They are located in Fresno, California, and play their home games at Chukchansi Park, which was opened in 2002 in ...

of the

Single-A Single-A, formerly known as Class A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A, Double-A (baseball), Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams cl ...

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leagu ...

. Goodman played in 73 games while with the Grizzlies, slashing .291/.368/.592 with 22 home runs. On July 6, 2022, he was promoted to the

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Co ...

. While with the Indians, Goodman played in 50 games, where he slashed .315/.351/.589 with 12 home runs. He was promoted to the Double-A

Hartford Yard Goats The Hartford Yard Goats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Hartford, Connecticut. The Yard Goats, which play in the Eastern League, are the Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. The team was founded in 2016 when the New Britain Ro ...

on September 7, 2022. During his 12 games with the Yard Goats, Goodman hit two home runs, slashing .227/.277/.364. Goodman began the 2023 season with the Double–A

, playing in 91 games and batting .239/.325/.523 with 25 home runs and 78 RBIs. He was then promoted to the Triple–A

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an ...

, where he hit .371/.418/.903 with nine home runs and 33 RBIs across 15 games. On August 27, 2023, Goodman was selected to the Rockies

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

and promoted to the major leagues. At the time of his promotion, he was the minor league leader in home runs, with 34. In his MLB debut later that afternoon, he

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

d twice in four

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s as the Rockies went on to win 4–3 win over the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

Camden Yards Oriole Park at Camden Yards, commonly known as Camden Yards, is a ballpark in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home of Major League Baseball (MLB)'s Baltimore Orioles, and the first of the Baseball park#Retro-classic ballparks, "retro" major le ...

. He drove in a run with his first hit off

Jack Flaherty Jack Rafe Flaherty (, born October 15, 1995) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals, Baltimore Orioles, and Los Angeles Dodg ...

in the sixth inning and eventually scored the deciding run in the ninth after a leadoff infield single off Yennier Canó with the score tied at 3–3. In 23 games for Colorado in his rookie campaign, he batted .200/.247/.386 with one home run and 17 RBIs. Goodman was optioned to Triple–A Albuquerque to begin the 2024 season. He was promoted to the Rockies in April and stayed with the organization until April 18 when he was sent back to the Isotopes for two weeks before finishing the season with the Rockies. On June 15, 2024, Goodman went four for five with two home runs and five RBIs in a 16-4 win against the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

. He finished the season as the Rockies backup catcher with a slashline of .190/.228/.417, including 13 home runs.

References

External links

Memphis Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodman, Hunter 1999 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen Albuquerque Isotopes players Arizona Complex League Rockies players Baseball players from Tennessee Colorado Rockies players Fresno Grizzlies players Hartford Yard Goats players Hyannis Harbor Hawks players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball first basemen Memphis Tigers baseball players National League All-Stars Spokane Indians players Sportspeople from Shelby County, Tennessee