00:00All right. Welcome back to Newswire here on Sports Grid. Man, it is great to catch up with my buddy.
00:05I'm not going to see him as much as I have in the past. Troy Johnston, big league player, of
00:10course, now with the Colorado Rockies here on the show. And I wanted to catch up with Troy because a
00:15very big announcement was just made recently about the World Baseball Classic and he is involved. Troy, it is great
00:20to see you. It is great to catch up with you. I know life now, spring training in Arizona, that's
00:25a little different, right, than doing it in Florida.
00:28You know, it's a lot dustier here and you don't hear that Florida bird in the morning. I never know
00:33what name it is, but I loved it. But it's a little bit different. Everything's a little closer, but, you
00:38know, the facilities are nice and it's still baseball.
00:41Yeah, it is. And Troy will get a great opportunity with the Rockies this season and we're going to talk
00:45about that. He played with the Marlins 44 games last season, came up, made his big league debut. A story
00:50we'll tell here in a minute. Here is the story that I got to get to.
00:53Okay. The announcement is made for the World Baseball Classic. The rosters are announced last week. And Troy Johnston shows
01:02up on Team Israel. Of all teams, I was absolutely stunned.
01:07I was shocked, you know, Troy, with me being Jewish and obviously rooting for Team Israel in the past, knowing
01:13a lot of guys are on the team.
01:14How did you end up on this team, your lineage? I have to ask because I think even in Marlins
01:20fandom, it was an absolute shock for all of us to see this pop up. How did this happen?
01:25So this has been kind of about a year and a half in the works. Of course, we had two
01:30former Team Israel coaches with a loan in Moscow. And so they kind of helped me with that.
01:37My dad did some research after I took a genealogy test and said I came back and I was 25
01:44% Jewish. And I was like, you know, I thought it was something else. I never knew. It hadn't really
01:50been passed down.
01:51And my dad's side of the family. He actually did some digging. And we have a lot of Jewish heritage.
01:57And so my grandmother is Jewish. And so she was kind of the deciding factor on my eligibility to, you
02:06know, be a part of Team Israel.
02:07And I'm really excited to play on the WBC and represent Israel.
02:11Yeah. And by the way, the Team Israel, I'm looking through the rosters. I mean, no disrespect to some of
02:18the other rosters, but you guys like have a pretty good squad.
02:22Like, I think that there is even a better chance that Team Israel goes a little bit further than they
02:27did the last go around. Who do you know on that squad thus far? Are you are you familiar with
02:32any of the guys?
02:34So, Kerry is who I'm working out with currently with the Rockies. I know Mervis. I played with Horwitz in
02:41the Fall League. Bader, of course, I played against with the Phillies, but I don't know him personally.
02:47So, other than that, it's going to be a new squad for me, a new team, but I got a
02:51couple familiar faces.
02:53Now, in order to be playing for this team, I'm guessing, Troy, that you had to want to do this.
03:00Like, this was something in genealogy you could have just found out about it and, okay, that's cool. I found
03:04out something that I didn't know.
03:06But I'm guessing that you wanted to play in the World Baseball Classic, right?
03:10Yes. Well, I mean, you talk about playing in the big leagues. You talk about playing in professional baseball in
03:15general.
03:15I mean, this is the Olympics of the of the big leagues. You know, this is the Olympics of baseball
03:20in my mind with no actual Olympic teams.
03:24And so this is like on the biggest stage, you know, playing in Miami again where the crowds are going
03:30to be very loud, very into it.
03:32You know, it's playoff baseball and I'm a sucker for playoff style baseball. I love the energy.
03:36I love how every pitch matters. Every, you know, every swing matters. Every decision matters.
03:41And, you know, having the opportunity to play in the WBC, I get to, you know, scratch that itch a
03:45little bit.
03:46Yeah. And I guess I will see you at that and, you know, certainly following it along as I will.
03:51As you know, of course, I'm with the Marlins mostly. I mean, that's primarily what I'm doing here.
03:55And last season, you come up, Troy, and you make your Major League debut.
03:59What a great moment I know it was for you and your family.
04:02And as you can see there, the numbers were pretty good, too.
04:04When you got called up, you had a nice little cup of coffee there.
04:08And so the emotions, let's start off with that, with making your big league debut and how the season played
04:13out with Miami.
04:15You know, I am so grateful and so blessed to have the opportunity to go up and, you know, even
04:20have, like I said,
04:22the opportunity to go up and play in the big leagues and, you know, see if I can hold my
04:25own.
04:25And I felt like I had the confidence and I had the skills, you know, after my long road in
04:30the minors to, you know,
04:32have some success up there and do my best.
04:33And, you know, it was so much fun going up there.
04:36And a lot of the teammates that I had in Miami were guys that I came up playing with.
04:41You know, I knew most of them.
04:42I think I knew I didn't know, like, four players on the whole team that I hadn't been teammates with
04:47previously.
04:47So it was fun.
04:49It was nice.
04:51You know, it was really a testament to how hard my family worked for me and how much they put
04:55in effort, you know,
04:58trusting me and being a part of my life and my journey.
05:01And, you know, it was such a cool moment for not only for me, but for them as well.
05:05I mean, an extraordinary story, too, for Troy.
05:08A lot of folks probably completely unfamiliar.
05:11Troy making his debut 27, 28 years old.
05:14Spent a lot of time in the minor leagues waiting, waiting, waiting to get his chance.
05:19So then you get it, Troy, with the Marlins.
05:21And then we find out a couple of months ago you're now moving on to the Colorado Rockies.
05:25So a little bittersweet, I would imagine, but probably I'm guessing the Rockies wanted you a little bit more than
05:31Miami.
05:31So you'll get a better opportunity to play there.
05:34You know, I hope so.
05:35I met some great people down here, and I've been training here for about two weeks, trying to get to
05:40know everybody, trying to get ready,
05:41trying to get pumped up for spring training.
05:43And, you know, they've got a great thing going on over here, and I'm really excited to be a part
05:47of this new organization
05:48and even their new wave of people that have been, you know, brought in to make a difference here in
05:53Colorado.
05:54And so where do things stand as far as what they've told you, your role in the organization?
06:01Try to make the team, try to get as much PT?
06:03Is that just it, like it's always been?
06:06Yeah, I think realistically, baseball's baseball.
06:09They're going to go with the hot hand, and they're going to go with who can make the most impact.
06:12And all I can do is try to put my best foot forward and give my best effort.
06:16And, you know, however the dice roll, you know, they're going to make their decision,
06:22and they're going to do what they're going to do.
06:23It's business.
06:24But, you know, I'm hoping to vie for a spot wherever they need me, whether it's the outfield, first base.
06:29And if they need a guy to hit the gaps and hit a couple RBI double, you know, I'm their
06:33guy.
06:34Well, you did it all last year with the Marlins when you got called up.
06:37I was so happy to see you get that opportunity.
06:39I'm even happier to see you on a WBC roster to play for Team Israel.
06:44So congratulations again, Troy, to you with that.
06:47And we will see you next month in South Florida.
06:50And we'll cover, of course, the WBC here on Newswire.
06:53Thanks again for coming on the show.
06:54Really appreciate it.
06:56No, thank you for having me.
06:57I really appreciate it all the time.
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