Fish Stripes Unfiltered Episode 22: Front Office News & Troy Johnston Interview

On the heels of new reporting by Marlins insider Craig Mish, Kevin, Isaac and Fish Stripes managing editor Ely Sussman dive into the following topics:

• Jorge Soler’s injury and Joey Wendle’s return
• The firing of Gary Denbo and potential replacements
• Full decision-making power for Kim Ng
• Veteran trade candidates (Anthony Bass, Steven Okert, Jesús Aguilar, etc.)

Stick around for an exclusive interview with Troy Johnston (41:00). The hot-hitting Marlins prospect reflects on his college and MLB Draft experiences, explains the origins of his unique batting stance, identifies his most memorable moment as a professional baseball player and more.

Enjoy Episode 22!

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Johnston was picked by the Marlins in the 17th round of the 2019 MLB Draft, and he’s been among the most productive hitters in their organization ever since. Across four different minor league levels, he owns a 131 weighted runs created-plus overall—100 represents league average—with 161 runs batted in, which leads all Marlins prospects during that span.

After the 2021 MiLB regular season, Johnston was sent by the Marlins to the Arizona Fall League. Finding out that he’d be participating was the most memorable moment of his pro career thus far.

“It was one of my goals and I met it a lot earlier than I thought I was going to,” Johnston says.

Johnston has spent the entire 2022 season with the Blue Wahoos, typically batting second or third in their lineup. He enters Saturday with a .293/.359/.454 slash line and eight home runs, ranking first on the team in games played (63) and total bases (113). With his help, Pensacola won the Southern League South Division first-half title to clinch a postseason berth. In our interview, Johnston said he’s been especially impressed by teammates right-hander Eury Pérez and catcher Paul McIntosh.

Drafted as an outfielder and later converted to a full-time first baseman, Johnston has recently begun getting occasional reps in left field again. Like so many key Marlins farmhands, the 25-year-old is eligible to be taken in the Rule 5 Draft this upcoming offseason unless he’s selected to the 40-man roster beforehand.

Follow Troy (@2297Troy), Isaac (@IsaacAzout), Kevin (@kevin_barral) and Fish Stripes (@fishstripes) on Twitter. Subscribe to MiLB.TV to watch Troy play with Double-A Pensacola. Full coverage here at FishStripes.com.

Fish Stripes is ranked by Feedspot as the world’s No. 2 Miami Marlins podcast (trailing only the pod that’s produced by the franchise itself). Our programs include The Offishial Show, Big Fish Small Pod, Fish Stripes Unfiltered and Earning Their Stripes. All new episodes are posted to FishStripes.com/podcasts. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean, Megaphone or wherever you normally get your pods from.