Tommy Troy laughs at the heckling fans as he prepares to at bat in an Arizona Fall League Game. “He pays attention to details,” said Diamondbacks prospect Gino Groover. (Photo by Brendon Pricco/Cronkite News)
SCOTTSDALE – Growing up, Gino Groover’s parents told him there was a little grain of truth in every joke. So when the Arizona Diamondbacks’ No. 9 prospect center infielder Tommy Troy gives him a hard time because he’s working too hard, there’s a small amount of seriousness sprinkled in there.
“I’d say, ‘Dang Tommy, you’ve been swinging for a minute,’” Groover said. “I always tell him, ‘Save some good swings for the game.’”
Troy, the Diamondbacks’ No. 5 pick and 2023 first-round pick, is usually a good sport, not just because he and Groover spent almost their entire brief minor league careers together, but because Troy also knows it’s true.
Even Troy admits that he sometimes works a little too hard while in the batting cages, something he believes is a negative. But that’s just how he is: he has been extremely focused, detailed and diligent in his approach throughout his playing career.
“I feel like, as a guy with a slightly smaller build, I need a little more room for error,” the 6-foot-2 Troy said. “So that’s kind of the way I work. I want to give myself the best chance to succeed. It’s all the little things that add up.”
Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Tommy Troy, left, talks with Minnesota Twins prospect Kala’i Rosario during a recent Arizona Fall League game at Salt River Fields. (Photo by Brendon Pricco/Cronkite News)
That mentality has fueled the success he has experienced at nearly every level, including this past month with the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League.
Troy was named California’s No. 4 shortstop prospect out of high school in 2020 by Perfect Game, a comprehensive scouting organization, and committed to Stanford, where he spent the next three years. After a promising first two seasons with the Cardinal, he really burst onto the scene during his junior campaign in 2023. He played in 58 games while slashing .394/.478/.699 with 17 home runs, 58 RBI and 35 walks to 42 . strikeouts, which helped lead Stanford to the College World Series for the third time in as many years.
For his contributions, Troy earned several honors following the 2023 season, including Perfect Game All-America First Team, ABCA All-Region First Team, Pac-12 All-Conference and All-Defensive Team honors. He was then selected by the Diamondbacks with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2023 Draft.
Nic Wilson, the Rafters’ hitting coach in the Colorado Rockies’ minor league, has gotten to know Troy quite well in recent weeks. Wilson had the opportunity to watch Troy when he played in the Northwest League, but has had much more time to work with him during the Fall League, especially since the two are neighbors in Arizona. As a second-year coach in the league, Wilson has seen a number of rising stars in the MLB, including the Athletics’ Lawrence Butler and the Yankees’ Jasson Domínguez, and he agrees that Troy’s skills stand out.
“First and foremost, Troy is extremely talented. There is no doubt about that,” Wilson said. “He has some gifts that are different from other people. It’s one of the reasons he went as high as he did in the draft and one of the reasons he’s as good a player as he is.”
One of those gifts is his ability to consistently make contact at the plate. Troy hasn’t been able to fully showcase that potential in the pros yet, playing just 27 games in 2023 and slashing .227/.319/.347 in an injury-shortened 2024 roster.
Groover has a unique perspective on Troy’s attention to detail, having spent a lot of time alongside him over the past two years. They both spent 2023 and 2024 on the high-A Hillsboro Hops, but also recovered from injuries this season. During that time, the two became extremely close, allowing Groover to see his teammate’s zeal on the field – and keep him in check.
Tommy Troy rounds third base and heads to home plate in search of a run in an Arizona Fall League game against the Surprise Saguaros. (Photo by Brendon Pricco/Cronkite News)
“He pays attention to details,” Groover said. “Sometimes…he probably won’t like it when I say this, but if we touch, I swear he’ll hurl himself to death. Ultimately, the work ethic is there. It’s there, you know he works very hard. He is loyal to his profession. As a baseball player, that can take you a long way, and if you focus on that and become precise about what you’re working on, it just takes it to another level.”
The three weeks of Fall League so far have truly proven to be a tale of two seasons for Troy. In his first six games on the roster, he went a paltry 1-for-25 with 11 strikeouts. But then he flipped a switch, and in his last eight games he’s gone 20-for-44 (.455) and is now tied for the fourth-most doubles (6) in the league. Troy’s strikeout rate is also down significantly, as he was struck out eight times but walked eight times.
It’s a testament to the adjustments Troy himself has made. He may have worked with Wilson on certain aspects of his game, such as improving his hitting on breaking balls, which Wilson said he saw a lot of during games. In any area, the improvement came from within, and Troy is certainly reaping the rewards of sticking to his approach and adapting.
“It’s absolutely all his,” Wilson said. “He’s the guy who does the reps in the cages. … He shows up every day with a great attitude. I think that’s something very important. Baseball is one of those sports where there is so much failure that you have to be able to show up the next day with the same habits and the same mentality and be the same person regardless of whether things go well. or wrong. Ultimately, it is the process that counts.”
Believe it or not, it wasn’t Troy’s focus that put him on track in the AFL. Instead, he said relaxing a little would likely yield positive results. Either way, his recent performance gives Diamondbacks fans plenty of reason to be excited about Troy becoming a cornerstone in the infield.
“I feel like a majority (of my struggles) were just a mental part of it,” Troy said. “It’s a bit relaxing. Sometimes you just get into a rut and maybe work too hard. Sometimes it is negative if you have been in the cages too much and made too many swings. It’s a bit of finding a balance between trust in the work.”
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