Good week for Goodman: Former Isotope plays hero in MLB debut, snags PCL Player of Week on way out of Abq.

It was a good week for former Albuquerque Isotopes slugger Hunter Goodman.

The 23-year-old, who leads all of Minor League Baseball in home runs with 34 (25 with Double A Hartford and 9 in 15 games with the Triple-A Isotopes), was the hero in Sunday’s Colorado Rockies 4-3 road win over the Baltimore Orioles in his Major League debut with two hits, an RBI and scoring the winning run in the ninth inning.

Friends and family were on hand in Baltimore for his Big League debut.

“I thought all around it was a good day,” Goodman told the Associated Press. “I had a lot of fun. I really enjoyed a good win and being able to contribute in my first big league game.”

It was two days after he slugged two more home runs in his last game of his brief stint with the Isotopes — a win over the Oklahoma City Dodgers, from whom Albuquerque took five games in a six-game series last week to keep pace in the second half PCL playoff race (28-23 and five games behind league-leading Round Rock).

On Monday, Goodman was named the Pacific Coast League Player of the Week for games played Tuesday through Sunday, despite playing in just four of the Isotopes’ six games. Goodman led the PCL for the week in home runs (4), RBI (11) and total bases (23) and was second in hits (10).

Goodman was a fourth-round draft pick of the Rockies in 2021 out of the University of Memphis in 2021.

He played first base for the Rockies on Sunday but also plays catcher, infield and outfield.

“I think of myself as a catcher,” Goodman told the Journal earlier this month. “That’s what I’ve spent most of my life doing and it’s what I’m best at. But I’m just trying to be the best player I can at catcher, outfield or first base. Hopefully being versatile keeps me in the lineup.”

In 15 games with the Isotopes, Goodman hit .371 with nine home runs and 33 RBI.

Of making the big leagues, Goodman said in early August after joining the Isotopes: “I’m not really thinking about that. I just got here and the guys have taken me in, so I’m focused on trying to help this team. Just work hard, play with confidence and when the time’s right, good things will happen. That’s my mentality.”

Goodman is the third Isotope to earn Player of the Week this season, joining Coco Montes (April 10-16) and Jonathan Morales (June 26-July 2).