CatchersHome Weekly — June 29–July 5, 2026
Awards, All-Stars, and a rookie streak that just refused to stop — this was a week that reminded everyone who runs the show behind the plate.
⚾ Baseball
The first catcher to win the Golden Spikes Award in 48 years of history.
Jackson posted 31 HR and 26 SB at Georgia — a combination no Division I catcher had ever pulled off. The award has one rule: best amateur player, full stop. No position discount.
He blocked the pitch, jammed his thumb, and woke up as the AL’s starting catcher.
Langeliers took a sweeper off his left thumb blocking in the dirt on July 3. The next morning, MLB named him an All-Star Game starter — first Oakland catcher to start since the late ’80s. That’s not a cautionary tale. That’s a job description.
Led every MLB catcher in fWAR, OPS, and RBI. Didn’t make the ballot.
His manager said to cancel the game if Dingler wasn’t named an All-Star. Market size doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. The numbers follow you whether the spotlight does or not.
A Royals rookie ended a slump by stopping his attempts to hit home runs.
Jensen’s 20-game streak — a new Kansas City rookie record — turned the moment he quit chasing and let his hands work. Breaking-ball whiff rate: 42% down to 14%. Simplify the approach. Trust your hands.
Three home runs, 428–428–401. He just joined Bench, I-Rod, and Raleigh.
Goodman became the fourth catcher in MLB history to reach 25 HR before the All-Star break. None of those swings were his biggest swing — just his most efficient ones.
The top defensive catcher in the draft called his own pitches in the SEC at 21.
Scouts call that level of autonomy rare at any college level. Helfrick ran the Arkansas staff himself — reading hitters, building game plans. That habit starts long before the pros.
🥎 Fastpitch
A .500 average and 1.188 slugging percentage. The fans had nothing to debate.
Atwood won the AUSL All-Star Cup fan vote on numbers alone. Vote by vote, consistent work outlasts a highlight reel every single time.
She won the Bench Award as a freshman — then USA Softball came calling.
Three weeks after becoming the first freshman to win the Johnny Bench Award, Wells was added to the USA Softball national team athlete pool. They reward complete catchers: elite offense and elite defense, not one or the other.
A left-handed catcher is in professional softball for the first time since 1989.
Erickson is No. 5 overall and a two-time Gold Glover. She frames outside pitches her own way and wins. There is nothing in the rulebook that says you can’t.
.409 average, 19 home runs, .970 fielding percentage — in the same season.
Ross won the NFCA NAIA Catcher of the Year by doing both jobs at once. Not the bat plus a passable glove. Not the glove plus a passable bat. Both, every game.
Every DII coach in the country voted for her. Every single one.
Davis hit .400 with 82 RBI and threw out 11 runners for Pittsburg State. The division you play in doesn’t set your ceiling. The work does.
Wisconsin recruited her for the full package: power bat, cannon arm, and instincts.
Drury went 3-for-4 in the Minnesota state quarterfinal and drove her team to the runner-up spot. She built it. That could be you.
She went 80-for-90 on stolen bases — from behind the plate.
Kowalik bats left, runs like an outfielder, and won the inaugural AUSL All-Star Cup last season. There is no one right way to catch. Find what you do well and make the whole game center on it.
Keep working. We’ll see you behind the plate next week.
— The CatchersHome Team