DENVER -- The Rockies claimed 2023 Minor League RBI leader Troy Johnston -- a contact-over-power hitter -- off waivers from the Marlins, the Rockies announced on Wednesday.
The move occurred the same day that the club reinstated designated hitter Kris Bryant and right-handed pitcher Jeff Criswell from the 60-day injured list to put its Major League roster at 38 -- two below the limit. The Rockies are seeking a baseball operations leader to replace Bill Schmidt, who stepped down after the season, so decisions are being made by a team of baseball operations officials.
The left-handed-hitting Johnston, 28, made his Major League debut with the Marlins in 2025 and slashed .277/.331/.420 with four home runs and 13 RBIs in 44 games. A 17th-round Marlins pick out of Gonzaga University in 2019, Johnston made a mark in 2023, when he drove in a Minors-leading 116 runs while playing for Double-A Pensacola and Triple-A Jacksonville to earn Marlins Minor League Player of the Year honors.
Johnston innovatively used a mental skills coach and fell back on his visits to various escape rooms during a long path to the Majors. It paid off with his debut on July 29. In games at Coors Field on Sept. 17-18, Johnston went 3-for-7 with an RBI.
Over six Minor League seasons, Johnston has slashed .281/.367/.458 with 81 home runs, 148 doubles and 16 triples, and has gone 83-for-97 on stolen base attempts.
While there is plenty of time and the possibility of more moves before the 2026 season starts, the Rockies have four first basemen on the Major League roster. When switch-hitting Michael Toglia struggled in 2025 after a 25-homer performance in ‘24 and ended up at Triple-A Albuquerque, right-handed hitters Warming Bernabel and Blaine Crim finished the season on the big league roster, with each having his share of notable results. Johnston joins that mix on the roster.
Also, Rockies No. 2 prospect Charlie Condon, the team’s top pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, is likely to receive his first Major League camp invitation in 2026. In his first full pro season in 2025, Condon performed solidly at High-A Spokane and Double-A Hartford, then has followed that up with some eye-popping performances in the Arizona Fall League.
In his fourth injury-shortened season to begin a seven-year, $182 million contract, Bryant appeared in just 11 games and currently is rehabbing. Criswell underwent Tommy John surgery during last Spring Training and will be working his way back to health when the 2026 season begins.