Aug 27, 2023, 02:12 PM ET
BALTIMORE — The Colorado Rockies released outfielder Jurickson Profar, who hit .236 with 8 homers, 39 RBIs and 1 stolen base after signing a one-year contract as a free agent that paid him $8.75 million.
Hunter Goodman‘s contract was selected from Triple-A Albuquerque, just two weeks after he was promoted from Double-A, and the 23-year-old started at first base Sunday and had two hits and an RBI, scoring the tiebreaking run in the ninth inning of his major league debut to lead Colorado over the Baltimore Orioles 4-3 and stop the Rockies’ six-game losing streak.
Batting sixth, Goodman was 2-for-4. He flied out in the second, struck out in the fifth, hit an RBI single off Jack Flaherty in the sixth for a 3-1 lead and reached on an infield single against Yennier Cano (1-3) leading off the ninth with the score 4-all.
“I thought all around it was a good day,” Goodman said. “I had a lot of fun. I really enjoyed a good win and being able to contribute in my first big league game.”
Goodman advanced on shortstop Gunnar Henderson‘s throwing error, took third on Michael Toglia‘s groundout and scored on a groundout by Elias Díaz.
“I told him this morning when he came in, ‘There’s no day like your first day, you’ll remember this one,'” Rockies manager Bud Black said of Goodman. “To get your first hit, to score the go-ahead run and to make a diving play on a bullet to the game, there was a lot in there.”
Profar, 30, had spent the previous three seasons with San Diego, batting .244 with 26 homers, 116 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. He signed a $7.75 million, one-year deal with the Rockies in March and earned a $1 million bonus for reaching 400 plate appearances.
A 10-year big league veteran, Profar spent his first five seasons with Texas and one with Oakland. He has a .238 career average with 86 homers, 352 RBIs and 47 steals.
Colorado began Sunday last in the NL West at 48-81, one defeat from its fifth straight losing season.
Goodman was selected in the fourth round of the 2021 amateur draft. He batted .371 with nine home runs and 33 RBIs in 15 games with the Isotopes, leaving his minor league season average at .259 with 34 homers and 111 RBIs in 106 games.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
