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00:00:27
Speaker 1: With the first pick, Alrighty, welcome to another MLB Draft Day interview here with On The Clock brought to you by Just Baseball Media. I'm Jared, we got Josh, we got Peyton, but we are joined by an awesome guest today, Troy Catcher, Jimmy Janicki.
00:00:42
Speaker 2: Jimmy, welcome to the show, man.
00:00:43
Speaker 3: Yes, sir. Thank you guys for having me on.
00:00:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, excited to have you on.
00:00:47
Speaker 1: First question we always kind of kick things off with is just give us a little bit of background on you and your amateur journey and kind of how you got to where.
00:00:53
Speaker 2: You are today.
00:00:54
Speaker 4: Yeah, growing up, I played for a travel team called the Long Shots, local team out of Illinois. Sadly, not an organization anymore. But, you know, I was there from 9U till 18U, actually. So I spent all my time there. And then high school, I went to Donner's Grove North. Absolutely loved it there. I played football and baseball. And then I went to Future Games sophomore year. And then that's when Coach Meade gave me a call. I got a lot of attention there, but Coach Meade was one of my first calls, and I had no clue where Troy was or what Troy even, like, where it was or anything. And, you know, he called me and was like, yeah, check us out, do your research. And I saw it was in Alabama, and I was like, oh, that's pretty cool. Like, it's been my dream since I was a kid to play D1 baseball in the South. So kind of ran from it from there, and we went on a visit, went to a football game, and it just felt like home.
00:01:50
Speaker 3: I love it. Sweet.
00:01:53
Speaker 5: Jimmy, I want to talk about your power progression from year one to year two. You know, as a freshman, you've been a great player for Troy into your career. Your freshman year, you hit two home runs. This past year, you hit 21. You earned several honors, rightfully so, including Sunbelt Player of the Year. In your opinion, what were some of the bigger adjustments you made that led to that progression and power, whether it was, you know, mechanically, mentally in the box?
00:02:23
Speaker 6: Or just your overall approach.
00:02:24
Speaker 3: At the plate?
00:02:26
Speaker 4: Honestly, it was, it was kind of everything. Um, when I first got here in the fall, um, I didn't, I wasn't super comfortable with my stance and stuff. So me and our hitting coach, Ben Wolgamont, we went to work and basically I was hitting in the turtle and he was like, all right, like let's, let's mess with some things. And I first tried no, no stride. And I was like, okay, it feels good. And then we came to like live hitting rolled around and I was like, all right, I'm going to try it. And like, I absolutely popped off that day. Like it, it was awesome. So it basically helps with a lot of it was timing. Um, I was timed out with the fastball a lot, a lot better. My freshman year, I was late a lot, which, which kind of, which kind of sucks. So no stride really helped with that. Um, mechanically like everything, you know, I was seeing it better.
00:03:14
Speaker 3: I'm on time. You know, I saw spin a lot better.
00:03:16
Speaker 4: It was, it was kind of something we tried and fiddled with and I kind of just ran off with it, which is kind of crazy.
00:03:24
Speaker 7: Yeah. I kind of want to hit on, you just touched on your swing a little bit.
00:03:26
Speaker 3: I kind of want to hit a little bit more on.
00:03:29
Speaker 6: The specifics of that.
00:03:30
Speaker 7: I noticed I was in Omaha this past year and I noticed more up close than I had watching your games on TV that you start with your back arm a little like unconventionally outstretched. You don't see very often kind of like a Shohei type.
00:03:46
Speaker 3: Of way or whatever.
00:03:46
Speaker 7: Is that something that like you've always done or did you fix that this past year when you were making the other adjustments? And is that like a, strategic advantage kind of thing, or is it just a comfort sort of deal?
00:03:58
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:03:59
Speaker 4: Um, growing up, my hands were always kind of out, but not as out, not as far out as they were this past year. Um, it was kind of something like when I started no stride, it's kind of like where my hands kind of ended up. Like, it's just, it's kind of a comfort thing. And I feel like I can get to those outside pitches really well. And it just, it was, it was more of a comfort thing. It just feels really good. And I kind of ran with it.
00:04:21
Speaker 6: I love it.
00:04:22
Speaker 1: Uh, Peyton, I think you were going to dive in some Omaha questions. I was going to ask one quick one for you here. Just because we've interviewed Coach Meade, just kind of the personality. What's it been like playing for him and the rest of the coaching staff too, like Ben Wogelmont? He's highly praised. We had Stephen Meyer on last year too, talked about how great he was. But what's it been like playing for Coach Meade and the rest of this Troy coaching staff?
00:04:43
Speaker 4: I mean, playing for Coach Meade is awesome. He's an absolute killer. He's a coach, but he wants to outwork any other coach there is. He's He's a huge help, too. He's helped me with a lot of my game and coming up with game plans. He's helped me on the defensive side a lot. Coach Volkman, too, like I said, he completely changed my swing. It came to be a great success, too. They've helped me out so much. I can't thank them enough.
00:05:13
Speaker 7: While we're on the Omaha topic, this is very important. I just thought about this quickly. The number one thing I noticed when I was there was over the PA system, they kept pronouncing your name Janicki instead of Janicki.
00:05:23
Speaker 3: Which one is right? It's Janicki. It drives me nuts. Okay, so that's what everyone says.
00:05:29
Speaker 7: That's what I thought, but they kept saying it over and over again, and I thought I heard someone say on like a broadcast, Janicki one
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time, and I was like, I would think they would have asked you about it, and that would be right.
00:05:38
Speaker 3: Apparently not. Yeah, it drives me crazy. Trust me. I've been dealing with it my whole life.
00:05:42
Speaker 2: I'm glad I got it right on the kickoff then.
00:05:44
Speaker 7: Yeah, that's what I was going to ask. At front, I just thought about that as you said it. I'm like, I would have thought you would have corrected us or something if it wasn't right, but I don't know. I don't know how that happened, but I just had to ask.
00:05:55
Speaker 3: You guys did good.
00:05:58
Speaker 5: So, Jimmy, as a freshman in 2025, you know, Troy was one of the first four teams out of, you know, first four teams out of the NCAA baseball tournament. Fast forward to this past season, you guys were one of the last four selected. You guys went to Gainesville. You guys, your team was the first in Troy history to host a Super Bowl. to win a super and then go to Omaha. I got to know what the experience like for those that, that three, four week segment was like in your eyes.
00:06:34
Speaker 6: And, you know, what did you, what did you gain from all of that?
00:06:40
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:06:40
Speaker 4: I mean, that was definitely the greatest three to four weeks of my life. Like everything, you know, it all started with the, with the watch party. We were up there in our, in the RBI club. I mean, you guys probably saw the videos. We were all sitting in the chair, and it was like, Tuscaloosa Regional, no. And then it was like Tallahassee Regional, and we were like, oh, crap.
00:06:59
Speaker 3: Like, is it going to happen?
00:07:01
Speaker 4: And then Gainesville came up, and we were like, heck, yeah.
00:07:03
Speaker 3: Like, there we are.
00:07:04
Speaker 4: Like, it was probably the best feeling I've ever had in my whole life. And then, obviously, you can go into Gainesville and win in the regional there with something special. Like, if you look back, the amount of rain delays and cancellations we've had– And, I mean, what happened in the Gainesville Regional, like, was crazy. Like, I mean, that goes to show how tough we are. Like, we overcome literally everything you could throw at us. And, obviously, the Super at home, I mean, that was insane. I've never seen that many fans at Troy. You know, just doing that for the town, too, it was awesome. You know, Doubles Alley was absolutely rocking. You know, and then going to Omaha, obviously, like, that was the cherry on top. Like, that was the coolest thing I've ever seen. The amount of fans playing in front of 26,000. you know, all the little kids that are like begging for your autographs. Like you feel like a celebrity.
00:07:53
Speaker 3: It's really awesome.
00:07:55
Speaker 7: Yeah. I know that you mentioned how the reaction show and all that stuff, the week leading up to it, which all were like, I know you're not supposed to let coaches and whoever give their speech, their pitch, whatever influence you. But I did sit down and watch the entire five, six minutes that coach me gave and right before y'all got– or right before selection show, it convinced me.
00:08:17
Speaker 3: Like, it was the most convincing argument I had ever heard. No doubt.
00:08:20
Speaker 4: Yeah, it was– for returners, though, like, obviously he hinted, like, we were obviously going to be in a regional. But, like, being on the previous team my freshman year, like, you still have that in the back of your head. Like, damn, like, what if something changed? Like, that was the worst feeling ever.
00:08:35
Speaker 3: Yeah. And we all thought about it. We were like, please, no.
00:08:38
Speaker 7: Like, don't have– I remember he kept saying, like, there is no discussion.
00:08:42
Speaker 3: We will be in. Like, this will happen. I'm like, how do you convince me? He's awesome, man. Just like I said, he's awesome.
00:08:47
Speaker 7: On a related note, I feel like I know how you're probably going to answer this question after that. But it's rare that you see a prospect as highly touted as yourself stick around a mid-major program for their draft year. I know we just put out our top college prospects list today. You're number six in the college guys overall. You don't see position players especially like that. stick around for their draft year instead of transferring to the sec, but that you did, what went into the decision to kind of stay at Troy instead of taking one of, you know, the deals I presume was thrown at you this past off season.
00:09:22
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:09:22
Speaker 4: I mean, I kind of took it all back to myself. Like naturally I'm a really loyal guy. Like I came to Troy because I love it. It felt like home, you know? I mean, ever since I stepped foot on Troy, I just, I loved it. And like a lot of guys, you see a lot of guys enter the portal for money. Like, which is a big part, but I honestly don't really care about all that right now.
00:09:42
Speaker 3: Money will come.
00:09:44
Speaker 4: Hopefully, I'll get drafted high, and I'll get a good amount of money, but that's not everything right now. What matters is going out on the field, putting my head down, and just going to work, doing the best I can out there.
00:09:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, kind of building off of that, too, for for you, as you kind of look at the success you all had last year going to Omaha, what are some of the things that you all are doing as a team to kind of build on that and get ready for.
00:10:06
Speaker 2: The 27 season?
00:10:09
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:10:10
Speaker 4: You know, we play like team meetings a lot. We, we like literally today, our announcer just came in there and he, And we were showing the highlights from like the choice super regional. And he was talking about like how amazing it was and how nice it would be to go back. So, I mean, we're, you know, we're working our tails off day in and day out and like meads always harping on us. Like we're building chemistry,
we're getting close and all this stuff and just having that like blue collar mentality of just going to work. And, you know, we're all working towards winning national championship, you know, so we're going to work our tails off as hard as we can to get there.
00:10:42
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:10:43
Speaker 7: I'm more of the, I guess more of the player profile side of things now.
00:10:48
Speaker 3: You spent most of last season catching, but you.
00:10:51
Speaker 7: Spent your freshman year pretty much exclusively at third base. I know I've heard you say in the past how much of a challenge it was for you to play third base and that you didn't really enjoy.
00:11:01
Speaker 3: It too much, to be honest.
00:11:03
Speaker 7: But some think your athleticism shines best at third that you could maybe project there. That could be a spot long term. I personally believe you're good enough to stick behind the plate. But if an organization were to show interest in drafting you, but it was with the intention of moving you to third base, is that something you'd be more open to, even though it's not as much of a comforting thing?
00:11:27
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, for sure.
00:11:28
Speaker 4: I mean, if it's worth getting drafted for like, that's been my dream since I was a kid. So of course, like if they were to say that, I'd be like, yeah, of course. I think, I think if I were to put like, if I were to practice towards it a lot, I think I could definitely get a lot better and feel more comfortable, but You know, it was definitely hard my freshman year. But, you know, just like anything, though, the more reps you take and more practice and more experience you have at something, the better you're going to be at it.
00:11:53
Speaker 3: So I think it just takes time.
00:11:54
Speaker 4: And if the team were to come up to me and have a talk with me and be like, hey, we're going to draft you as a third baseman, that's fine.
00:12:03
Speaker 5: Jimmy, I want to stick on the catching topic here. What would you say is the strongest part of your defensive skill set and what area do you feel like you've developed the most during your time at Troy?
00:12:17
Speaker 4: Well, that's a tough one. Um, I would definitely say my arm for sure. Um, you know, ever since I got here, I've been getting a crap ton stronger. You know, our strength coach does a great job, you know, that stuff translates to like exit VLOs, arm strength, like arm VLO, that stuff. So I would definitely say arm strength, you know, a lot of stuff ties into that too. Like, um, you know, the transitions, you know, footwork and all that stuff. So that stuff has definitely helped. And, um, our new, our new catching coaches here has helped it help me out a ton. You know, I'm basically, I basically started from like scratch. So I've got, I got like a whole new foundation catching back there. So it's going to help with like receiving and throwing down and everything. So I'm looking forward to that.
00:13:00
Speaker 6: That's fantastic.
00:13:04
Speaker 1: I love it for you. So, um, what is the go-to food spot? This can be back home for you. This can be at Troy. What is a go-to food spot for you?
00:13:14
Speaker 3: Ooh, at Troy. Uh, it's a tough one.
00:13:18
Speaker 4: I really like, there's this little like mom and pop, it's a brewery, but they have pizza and wings and they are killer, man. We also have, we have Moe's barbecue. They got like ribs, just your classic Southern barbecue spot.
00:13:31
Speaker 3: I love those.
00:13:32
Speaker 4: Um, back home in Illinois, uh, We have a Mexican joint called Los Burritos.
00:13:38
Speaker 3: That's really good. I love me some Mexican food, so I always go there. Love it. Yeah.
00:13:46
Speaker 5: Jimmy, what would you say is your most memorable moment in your career thus far?
00:13:56
Speaker 3: Probably winning the Super Regional at home. Oh, yeah.
00:13:59
Speaker 4: That's definitely up there with the College World Series win, though, versus Ole Miss. Probably honestly, probably the super regional win because like when the whole town was like climbing the fence and the outfield here everywhere, like.
00:14:12
Speaker 3: It was just awesome.
00:14:13
Speaker 4: Like that was, that was unbeatable and everybody's just chanting your names and stuff. Like it's, that was some special.
00:14:20
Speaker 2: I was going to say, y'all had a lot of best moments in just one year. Yeah.
00:14:23
Speaker 4: Like that was, that was the best year I've ever, I've ever had.
00:14:27
Speaker 3: It was crazy.
00:14:29
Speaker 7: I know obviously after this year, the goal is to go play pro. If you could face only one MLB pitcher right now, who would it be? Who would be the biggest challenge you would want to take on?
00:14:39
Speaker 3: I think you know what I'm about to say. Mizorowski, for sure. Yeah. I mean, 105, like, dude. The answer was scheme.
00:14:48
Speaker 7: For the past, like, two years, and now it's flipped.
00:14:50
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:14:51
Speaker 4: You got to guess up there, I feel like. Like, you got to swing before he even, like, I don't even know.
00:14:56
Speaker 3: Like, early as can be, man. Like, he's got some wicked stuff, for sure.
00:15:01
Speaker 2: From pitchers, we always get Otani.
00:15:04
Speaker 4: Yeah, or him. Otani's gross, too. He hasn't pitched in a while, though. We'll see.
00:15:13
Speaker 1: Speaking of pitchers, who's the best arm that you've faced so far? It can be, I guess, in your amateur journey, but at college level as well.
00:15:21
Speaker 3: College level.
00:15:24
Speaker 4: You know, my high school, I'm going to go back to high school. I faced Ryan Sloan. He's in the Mariners' org. I don't know if he's AAA or AA.
00:15:33
Speaker 3: I'm not really sure.
00:15:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's right on the verge.
00:15:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, he was a stud. I mean, you know what?
00:15:37
Speaker 4: Those Mariners are known for pitching. They produce dogs. He was a local guy at my high school.
He's in my conference.
00:15:45
Speaker 3: He went to York. He was a stud, man. Just wicked stuff.
00:15:51
Speaker 6: Jimmy, give us your Mount Rushmore of catchers.
00:15:54
Speaker 3: Ooh, of catchers?
00:15:57
Speaker 5: Mm-hmm.
00:15:58
Speaker 1: This doesn't have to be your top four of all time, but it could be guys that you looked up to, too.
00:16:02
Speaker 3: I'm going to go JT Romuto. He's my guy. Wilson Contreras on the Cubs. Loved him before he got a little crazy. He's always been a little crazy, but before he was even crazier. Who else?
00:16:21
Speaker 4: I loved Kyle Schwarber as a catcher, too. Not many people know he was a catcher, but I loved him as a catcher. Um, I really like Salas on the Padres kid who just got called up. He's a, he's, he's crazy. I mean, he's just, he's an, he's an athlete, man. And then, um, I love Alejandro Kirk too. Love Alejandro Kirk as a catcher. Dude blocks everything.
00:16:42
Speaker 3: He's a stud. Those are off the board answers. I was not expecting, but like, those are my guys. Like, yeah, those are good answers. Awesome. I'm looking at film. That's who I look at.
00:16:53
Speaker 4: Hmm.
00:16:54
Speaker 7: Um, on a non-baseball related note um if you're not training playing whatever it is what's your go-to way to like get your mind off the game just chill out.
00:17:03
Speaker 4: Chill out um we have a we have a local lake here in troy it's called the pike county lake i take i go there with my girlfriend i take my dog there too you know i let him swim around that's kind of it's a good place to kind of decompress you know i'm saying like you know college baseball stressful you know it's so hard so you need to, you need to, you need some time for yourself and just be around other people.
00:17:25
Speaker 3: So that definitely helps. What kind of dog you got? Uh, chocolate. Yeah. He's right next to me. He's sleeping though.
00:17:35
Speaker 2: Love it.
00:17:36
Speaker 1: Uh, just sticking to off the field here. Uh, what's something outside of baseball that fans just might be surprised to know about you?
00:17:45
Speaker 3: Oh man. Um, I'm a really good pickleball player. Oh, yeah. I'm really good at pickleball.
00:17:55
Speaker 2: You can go competitive now.
00:17:56
Speaker 3: Dude, I can, man. We literally have courts right next to my house. Yeah. It's crazy. All the guys always go there. It's fun.
00:18:04
Speaker 1: They got pickleball pros. You can be a licensed pickleball pro now.
00:18:08
Speaker 2: It's wild.
00:18:09
Speaker 3: It's crazy. I see it on TV all the time. They stream that stuff. It's nuts.
00:18:15
Speaker 5: I know we're in mid-fall here, and we have a while before opening weekend kicks in. Any thoughts on a potential walkout song for next year? Are we going to keep it the same? Are you going to switch it up? What are we thinking?
00:18:29
Speaker 4: It's funny you ask that. I literally just thought about that. A part of me wants to keep it, but I always switch things up. I don't know if you all know this song, but it's called Ball For Me by Post Malone.
00:18:42
Speaker 3: I love that song. That'd be a good one.
00:18:44
Speaker 4: Or I could do, I did Take Me Home Tonight by Eddie Money for like a 80s and 90s throwback.
00:18:51
Speaker 3: So that was fun.
00:18:52
Speaker 4: I'm kind of deciding between those two and if I'm keeping the older one, but I don't know.
00:18:56
Speaker 3: I like to have fun too, something that the crowd knows. Love it.
00:19:00
Speaker 2: Josh, you got any more fun questions? I think that's it.
00:19:05
Speaker 3: Wasn't the walk-up song last year was like 50 Cent? Shoot, what was it? It was Ride With Me by Nelly. Yeah, I'm a huge Nellie fan. I love that guy. Missouri guy, yeah. Love him.
00:19:19
Speaker 1: Jimmy, man, we can't thank you enough for taking the time to join us on On the Clock. We're excited to watch you all play, watch Troy make another run here. Excited just to watch you in the 2020 season and wishing you nothing but the best, man.
00:19:30
Speaker 3: Of course, boys. Thank you for having me on again. I appreciate it. Appreciate it.