The Chatter’s Box: Troy Johnston amongst leaders in batting average and vibes

DENVER, Colo. – When the Colorado Rockies opened their 2026 slate in Miami, there were 10 players on the Opening Day roster who were acquired during the offseason. 

As much as that group and a new coaching staff has contributed to raising the floor of the club, manager Warren Schaeffer acknowledged the biggest upgrade has been to the clubhouse thanks to the club’s first President of Baseball Operation.

“It’s a whole new operation now, starting with Paul DePodesta and (General Manager) Josh Byrnes – all of the various new staff members that we hired,” Schaeffer said. “This is a whole new team that’s been put together. It’s just a different standard.”

One of the key contributing factors that’s keeping Colorado from repeating their 119 losses a year ago has been the clubhouse atmosphere. 

“I think the team really did a good job going to get some good pieces,” said outfielder Brenton Doyle. “A lot of glue guys, a lot of guys that can boost morale and who are also having success, too, on the field.”

Perhaps the biggest acquisition for Colorado came before all the rest: IF/OF Troy Johnston.

When the 28-year-old was first claimed on waivers last November from the Miami Marlins, the Rockies were most interested in his left-handed bat as well as ability to play both first base and corner outfield.

His off-field contributions have been even more valuable.

Johnston cracked his first Opening Day roster and immediately contributed at the plate. Four multi-hit performances in his first 10 starts boosted his batting average to .342 on April 8. Following a 2-for-17 slump, Johnston climbed back above .300 on the year and hasn’t looked back since.

The 17th round pick out of Gonzaga University ranked seventh in the big leagues with a .307 batting average entering Sunday’s action. Johnston also leads the league with a .352 average (51-for-145) off right-handers and is tied for fifth with a .400 average (18-for-45) with runners in scoring position heading into the three-game series with the San Francisco Giants that opened with an 8-6 walk-off victory.

Then there’s the fun factor Johnston has brought with him to Denver.

“People that watch television can point directly to Troy, he’s got a big personality,” Schaeffer said of Johnston’s contributions to Colorado’s newfound positivity. “We love Troy here. We absolutely love him. He brings a lot to the table in terms of his skills on and off the field and what he does to the vibe.”

The Chatter’s Box: Troy Johnston Interview

Welcome to The Chatter’s Box, a Just Baseball series from Patrick Lyons. Because post-game media availability is focused entirely on the details of the previous nine innings, the conversations that take place in the clubhouse or during batting practice before a contest can take on a much more relaxed and jovial tone.

The following is a conversation with Troy before the Rockies-Diamondbacks game on May 16.

Lyons: Tell me about the Turn 2 Podcast with Scott & Troy because as someone coming up as a young man, besides being a baseball player, did you want to get into radio or anything like that? Is that something in your future after your playing career ends?

Johnston: I have no idea yet. I have no idea what my future holds, and that is so exciting. My goodness, that is so exciting. But realistically, no. Scott (Kornberg) approached me in 2023, 2024 about having a podcast with him, and I jumped at the opportunity. Because I get to hear stories from people of their upbringing, of how they got into baseball, how their journey has been through minor league baseball, big league baseball, whatever it is, and that’s so exciting for me. A lot of people, they see the (safety) nets and they think we’re caged animals, and now with my podcast, we actually get to tell stories and humanize the players that are on the field, and I think that’s the most important part, and why I wanted to do the podcast

Lyons: I know Scott was getting ready for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp season as the play-by-play announcer, but was he able to get into the building at LoanDepot Park for Opening Day in Miami?

Johnston: No, he was in Jacksonville, they opened up the same day we did. He’s busier than I am, and so he was not available to be there, but I saw some other people that I played with and had the pleasure of working with. So no, Scott wasn’t there, but he shot me a good luck text, and all that fun stuff.

Lyons: Are you someone that in a special moment can stop, pause and go, “Oh, this is cool. this is weird.” For example, your first opportunity on an Opening Day roster is against the organization in which you were drafted and developed.

Johnston: We thought it was so funny when we heard we got claimed by the Rockies. I thought it was so funny. My wife and I laughed. We were like, “What are the odds?” We actually had a funny story that when we were here at Coors Field last year with the Marlins, my wife saw a hat in the store and was like, “Oh my god, I love their colors. I love the color scheme. I want to buy this hat.” And I’m telling her, “Hey, we play for the other team, you can’t buy the hat.” After we found out we got claimed, I turned around and was like, “Hey, you can buy the hat now.” But (Opening Day) wasn’t as much of a homecoming. I spent a little bit of time there, not too much. But it’s all fun, and they’ll come to Colorado here in a month or so, and I’ll just say hi again. 

Lyons: So, you gave her the approval on the hat. Is she wanting the homer coat in her arsenal now? 

Johnston: You know, she’s very stylish, but she has so much Rockies gear now, it’s unbelievable. But the homer coat, I think, is gonna stay the homer coat. I tried to put it on her when we went to MLB Network, but she was like, “No, that’s not for me.”

Lyons: Are you someone who’s into jerseys, and pays attention to that kind of stuff? Miami brought back the teal from the 90’s, so I’m thinking specifically about the Rockies black vests, the ones out of rotation. Is that one you look at and think of as classic? Would you  like to see that come back at some point?

Johnston: I would love to be one of those guys and tell you, ‘Yes. Oh, I love all this stuff.” (But) a jersey is a jersey, you know. They’re all nice, and they all look good. I know there’s a lot of teams that have certain old school stuff, or they would get throwbacks, or all these kinds of things. But for me, I don’t really watch a lot of baseball. I don’t really know.

Lyons: Fair to say you were too busy playing the game rather than consuming it as a sport or game.

Johnston: I’m playing it. It’s my job, but it’s not who I am. I’ve played with people that go home and they turn on MLB Network, and they’re watching highlights, and they’re watching all these other people. I go home, I worry about my family, I worry about what’s for dinner, taking the dog out, doing things like that. I don’t have a second thought about baseball once I get home. When I’m at the field, I’m thinking about baseball 24/7. When I’m off the field, it’s whatever else but baseball.

Lyons: That attitude seems to be really helpful in the clubhouse from what I’ve seen, because the vibes are really different this year. Schaeffer even said that, said you’re one of those major factors for effectively flushing a game and saying, “Hey, tomorrow’s a new day, let’s forget about it.” Is that an attitude that you’ve had forever, or did you develop it over the course of your career?

Johnston: Absolutely not. Has that been something I’ve had forever? I’m so lucky to be in the position that I am. As a 17th rounder, as somebody that spent six years in the minor leagues, I’m not supposed to be here, and statistically I’m really not supposed to be here. And I’m not supposed to be having this much success, but I am, and I’m thankful for every single day that I get the opportunity to play on the field, whenever Schaeffer puts me in the lineup. I’m so thankful, but realistically, when I was a little bit younger, coming up, I would take it home, and I suffered from panic attacks, I had certain things going on, like it was, I had a lot of anxiety, I would take it home, and so I had to work through that. I had a mental skills coach, his name was Marius Aleksa, and he was with the Marlins. He was very, very good with me. And when I got to my breaking point, I was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ He was one of the people that really helped me, and he was like, ‘Hey, what if everything works out, and also focus on somebody else other than yourself and see how it works out for you.’ And I just had this conversation the other day, but focusing on your other teammates and focusing on all the exterior things and everything that’s good in your life really, really helps you on the baseball field, because whether you go 4-for-4 with four home runs or you go 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, you’re still going to get a good meal after the game, you’re still going to get another opportunity the next day, you’re still going to wake up, you’re still going to have a great life. There’s so many great things about this that one game, one week, two weeks — whatever it is — is not going to really affect much of your life when you turn 50, 60, and your career’s over. You’re probably not gonna remember those tough nights as much as you are the good nights.

Lyons: Do you journal at all? Like a gratitude journal, something like that, or are there any things that you do regularly? Or is it just that your perspective has shifted or is there some maintenance that you do?

Johnston: Of course, there’s maintenance. There’s check-ins, there’s people that text me, check in, see how I’m doing. My wife’s a huge proponent of that, but of course, she’s a partner, she’s not my therapist, so she can only carry so much. But I have journaled, I have done all these different things. When things are going really well, you kind of forget about these kinds of things. When things are going bad, it really, really helps to dive in, to check in daily, check in weekly, check in monthly. For me, I’m checking in probably every couple months. For me, I’ve been focusing on so much off the field that my on-field play has just been fun. I get to hang out with the guys, and I get to play a game that I love. And what an awesome job I have. I try to check in as much as I can, and make sure that I’m kind of centered and where I need to be. But every day is a new day, it’s so exciting.

Lyons: Your journey through minors must have created some interesting memories. You mentioned not being a big jersey guy, but I imagine you can remember some of the strange minor league jerseys you had to wear with.

Johnston: We had one that was the Jumbo Shrimp mascot (Scampi) in Jacksonville. It was so ugly, and it was so hot, and we always wore it on Sunday day games. And if you’ve ever been in Florida in the summer, it’s 98 degrees with 100% humidity, feels like 110 and you’re just sweating and sweating and sweating. And you can’t drink enough water, and you can’t stay out of the sun, because if you get in the shade, it’s still hot. But that (jersey was) one of them. We had a really cool one in Pensacola, which was the Pok-Ta-Pok, a (Latin American) heritage one. And then one of my favorites was during the very last year of the Beloit Snappers, who are now the Beloit Sky Carps. I did a promo, and we actually had a turtle shell on our back, and that was probably the craziest one.