What might Johnston bring to the Rockies?<\/p>\n
A native of Puyallup, Washington, the 28-year-old lefty was an all-around high school athlete (football, wrestling \u2014 which his father coached \u2014 and baseball). In an odd twist, he and Toglia were both elite Washington State baseball contemporaries in high school.<\/p>\n
While Toglia opted to attend UCLA, Johnston headed for Gonzaga University<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201dMy grandparents have lived four blocks away from campus since I have been alive, so I have grown up around Gonzaga,\u201d Johnston said<\/a> at the time. (He was an accounting major.)<\/p>\n Due to a hand injury, Johnston had a terrible 2018 and missed much of the season, but he finished 2019 slashing .330\/.402\/.610 with 10 homers. In his career with the Bulldogs between 2017-2019, Johnston accrued a .312\/.386\/.515 slashline, including 13 home runs and 27 doubles. His college FLD% was .984. In 212 innings, he had two errors and five assists.<\/p>\n His professional baseball career began in 2019 when he was drafted in the 19th round by the Miami Marlins<\/a>.<\/p>\n Although he played some low-A ball in 2019, because of COVID, his professional career, effectively, did not begin until 2021, but Johnston found success in the Marlins minor league system.<\/p>\n In 2023, he was their Minor League Player of the Year. In 2022, MLB Pipeline wrote<\/a> of Johnston\u2019s season:<\/p>\n Johnston is a professional hitter who knows his left-handed stroke, repeatedly makes good swing decisions and consistently barrels the ball to all fields. While he has enough bat speed and strength for at least average power, his swing is relatively flat and geared more for line drives than flyballs that will carry over the fence. He is a gifted hitter, so he could make the adjustments to turn on and lift more pitches to produce enough pop to profile as a regular at first base.<\/p>\n He started 2025 in Triple-A Jacksonville where over 84 games, he slashed 252\/.333\/.439, including 12 home runs, 39 RBI, and 31 stolen bases. Johnston finished his MiLB career with a .280\/.365\/.447 slashline that included 82 home runs and 83 stolen bases. In addition, he racked up more than 4300 innings at first base.<\/p>\n On July 29, 2025, he was added to the 40-man roster and promoted to the Marlins. Following that, on August 16, he hit his first home run off Brayan Bello.<\/p>\n When the 2025 season ended, Johnston had a slashline of .277\/.331\/.420 (107 OPS+) with four home runs and two stolen bases.<\/p>\n Also worth noting is that when the Marlins visited Coors Field on September 17-18, he went 3-for-7 with an RBI. So not bad.<\/p>\n In 121 plate appearances over 44 games (so, small sample size), Johnston earned a 6.6% BB% and 21.5% K%. He also had a 40.7% HardHit%. (To watch some of his season highlights with the Marlins, click here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Defensively, he played 108 innings at first for the Marlins and finished with 0 DRS, FRV, and OAA as well as 0 errors. In other words, he was fine.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not clear who in the Rockies front office claimed Johnston (because Paul DePodesta\u2019s hiring as president of baseball operations had not yet been made public).<\/p>\n But given the Rockies\u2019 needs at first base \u2014 at least until Charlie Condon is ready \u2014 it makes sense.<\/p>\n Johnston would be an inexpensive player since he has less than a year of service time. Plus, he\u2019s a lefty, which would provide a platoon with Blaine Crim<\/a> should the Rockies take that approach.<\/p>\n Now compare his hitting profile with those of other Rockies starters, per FanGraphs<\/a>:<\/p>\n 2025 Colorado Rockies position players<\/p>\n Johnston\u2019s Pull% is second only to Hunter Goodman\u2019s. (The league average was 30.5%.) In addition, his LD% is second only to Ezequiel Tovar\u2019s. (The league average was 23.9%.) Manager Warren Schaeffer has said the Rockies want to get players who are good on the base paths, and Johnston might meet that criteria.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how Johnston, Warming Bernabel, Blaine Crim, and Michael Toglia compare based on their 2025 MLB numbers per FanGraphs<\/a>:<\/p>\n 2025 Colorado Rockies First Basemen<\/p>\n The comparisons between Crim and Johnston are interesting: Crim has a slightly higher BB% while Johnston has a significantly lower K%.<\/p>\n Thomas Harding has written<\/a> that prospect Charlie Condon will have every chance to win the starting spot out of spring training. I am skeptical that Condon will be ready, but with a platoon of Johnston and Crim, the Rockies would be in a position to clear a spot for the top prospect when the time comes.<\/p>\n On Saturday, Harding wrote<\/a> that Johnson \u201ccould also be part of the picture at first base\u201d before adding, \u201cThe club also is looking to sign another starter and a multiposition player for the infield.\u201d The suggestion, then, is that the Rockies will at least start the season staffing first base with players already on the roster.<\/p>\n Pitchers and catchers report in a month, so the Rockies front office should be hard at work putting the pieces together in the coming days.<\/p>\n This week on the internet<\/p>\n Please enjoy this Ozzie Albies video:<\/p>\n How Tarik Skubal\u2019s case could test the norms of MLB\u2019s arbitration system | The Athletic ($)<\/a><\/p>\n Last week, the Rockies agreed to contracts with their arbitration-eligible players. However, Tarik Skubal may be about to challenge the system.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_5643.png\"\/)
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