In 2025, the Rockies started off the year with catchers Jacob Stallings and Hunter Goodman. The veteran Stallings was in his 10th MLB season, and Goodman was in just his third. However, ultimately, 2025 ended up bring not only Goodman\u2019s first full year in MLB, but it was also his first full year catching.<\/p>\n
Braxton Fulford eventually emerged, as well, after making his MLB debut on April 16, and finished the season in tandem with Goodman after Stallings was released in June.<\/p>\n
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Goodman obviously had a career year with an All-Star selection and Silver Slugger award and is looking to build on that, but Fulford is also planning to take the next step in his own career in 2026.<\/p>\n
Everyone learned something in 2025 \u2014 including myself \u2014 but both Fulford and Goodman learned valuable lessons that will carry them into 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the same game\u201d Fulford said of his biggest lesson. \u201cJust go out there, play hard, and trust your abilities because you\u2019re there for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goodman echoed that, but also added this.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven when you have a good season, there\u2019s a lot of rough patches where you go through things and you try and figure things out, so just trying to stay level-headed through all of it,\u201d Goodman said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAnd I think as a team, we learned a lot. We had a lot of young guys play last year and get a chance to get their feet wet. And I\u2019m still young, too, so [it was] good getting that first full season and catching them was really good. So I think we learned a lot and we\u2019re going to go into this year trying to win some baseball games.\u201d<\/p>\n
They focused on different things in the offseason. For Goodman, is was about improving himself behind the plate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a lot of focus on the stuff behind the plate,\u201d he said. \u201cSome receiving stuff, cleaning up some of my throwing. My throwing was pretty poor. It was pretty poor throwing to bases last year, so [I\u2019m] trying to figure some of that stuff out.\u201c<\/p>\n
For Fulford, it was more about working both behind the plate and in front of it.<\/p>\n
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\u201c[I did] a little bit of swing work, just trying to make things more efficient there,\u201d he said. \u201cCatching work, same thing. Trying to clean up different areas that I thought had been better \u2013 receiving, throwing. I think a lot of areas felt good last year, so [I\u2019m] just trying to build on those and then clean up different areas that I was inefficient.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to their own personal work, they \u2014 like the rest of the team \u2014 are getting used to the new changes the Rockies made to their coaching staff and front office. But they\u2019re excited to see what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love it!\u201d Fulford said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of good energy, new ways of thinking, and new ways of doing things.\u201d<\/p>\n
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He added, \u201cPitchers have a lot of resources that they can use to improve their arsenals, to make adjustments where they saw deficiencies last year. Same thing with the catchers. We\u2019re going about things differently so that we can get our pitchers in the zone, so that we can attack hitters early offensively. We have more resources there, as well, a whole different way of thinking in regards to the offensive part of the game, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fulford said, \u201cSpecially on the pitching side, we\u2019re getting ahead and staying ahead. We\u2019re not going to worry so much about pinpoint accuracy as we are throwing strikes with a lot of pitches and throwing our best stuff. [We\u2019re] not just trying to throw the perfect location.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goodman echoed the \u201cgood energy\u201d and said he\u2019s excited to work with both the new and returning coaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like the hitting coaches,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously, [Jordan] Pacheco is back from last year and then Brett [Pill]\u2019s been awesome so far. And then just seeing how the pitching coaches are working with the pitchers and how they\u2019re talking to me. I\u2019m just excited going forward. I think the new staff is very open-minded to try new things in Denver, which I think will be good.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Heading into 2026, both have similar goals.<\/p>\n
For Goodman, it\u2019s about \u201cstaying healthy and coming out of camp ready to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Fulford, it\u2019s \u201cwant[ing] to put my skills on display, go out there and play hard because I know I\u2019m more than capable of being an everyday catcher.\u201d<\/p>\n
To Read (Rockpiles)To Read (PuRPs)<\/p>\n