Monday’s game followed a familiar script for Memphis Redbirds outfielder Bryan Torres.
In the 6-1 win over the Durham Bulls, the 27-year-old outfielder went 1-for-2, with a double and two walks. It was the 14th-consecutive game in which Torres reached base and eighth-straight with a walk, earning 11 free passes over that stretch.
In 149 plate appearances over 39 games for the St. Louis Cardinals Triple-A affiliate, Torres has batted .325, and he currently leads the International League with an on-base percentage (OBP) of .463.
Torres has been a hitter since almost the day he was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico. In 1,366 at bats across eight seasons in Minor League Baseball, Torres has a .300 average and a .385 OBP. In his first two seasons in the Dominican Summer League (DSL), Torres batted .250, then .259, but his average has not dipped below .280 since, and last season, his first with the Cardinals organization, Torres led the Double-A Texas League with a .331 batting average and .418 OBP.
Despite the numbers, Torres still awaits his MLB debut. If and when he gets there, it sure will have been a unique path.
Torres was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers as an undrafted free agent in 2015, at the age of 17. Originally a catcher, Torres played three summers in the DSL, then two more, 2018 and 2019, for three separate rookie league-level teams in the Brewers system. Torres hit for a good average at every stop, but he didn’t supply much in the way of power numbers.
One of many players negatively impacted by the lost MILB season due to Covid, as well as the MLB decision to restructure its minor leagues by trimming 40 affiliates ahead of the 2021 season, Torres was picked up by San Francisco in the minor-league Rule 5 draft. But he saw sporadic action during his lone season with the Giants Double-A team in 2021 and was released after the season.
“I almost retired, man. And my family, they just told me, ‘Hey, go play,’” he said. “That was my push to keep doing it.”
Torres turned to independent baseball leagues, but in a “change will do me good” decision, Torres told teams that he would not be a regular catcher anymore. He wound up playing two seasons as an infielder and outfielder with the Milwaukee Milkmen of the American Association.
“From that point on I showed what I can do in the field,” Torres said. “That gave me the opportunity to use my legs and finally play the way I play right now.”
Torres won the league batting title in 2022 after hitting .374. The next season, Torres won it again with a .371 mark, and he also stole a league-high 71 bases.
The Cardinals would sign Torres near the end of that 2023 season, and now, as he wears out the basepaths at the Triple-A level, Torres is ever hopeful of one day receiving that call.
“I’m working hard to get to the big leagues,” Torres said last summer. “I hope (the Cardinals) see that and they watch that and they follow that.”
Baker Hitting Bombs, Not Much Else for Memphis
With the win on Monday over Durham, Memphis improved to 28-22, tied for second place in the International League West and 7.5 games behind overall league leader Lehigh Valley.
Luken Baker went 2-for-3 with a pair of home runs and four RBIs in the win. Baker has only seven hits in 50 at bats in the 14 games since he was sent back to Memphis, but five of those hits have gone over the fence.
On the pitching side, Michael McGreevy has had three starts since his impressive outing May 4 in St. Louis. He has given up just three earned runs in 16 innings during those starts, allowing 18 hits and three walks with 20 strikeouts, including nine in a five-inning stint against the Charlotte Knights on May 10.
The 7-3 win over the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on May 21 was Memphis native Ben Johnson’s 368th as manager of the team, making him the winningest manager in franchise history.
Tink Hence, Quinn Mathews Begin Rehab Assignments
Tink Hence has pitched to opposing batters twice on his rehab assignment.
Hence opened the season on the minor league 60-day injured list with a right rib cage strain, but on May 21, he pitched a scoreless inning for Single-A Palm Beach, getting a strikeout and a pickoff while walking one.
In his second outing for Palm Beach on Tuesday, Hence threw 42 pitches over 2.1 innings, allowing no runs on three hits and two walks with a strikeout.
Also on a rehab assignment, Quinn Mathews had his second outing on Sunday, tossing 45 pitches in 3.0 innings for Palm Beach, with two hits, no runs, no walks and four strikeouts. Pitching May 19 for the Cardinals Florida Complex League team, Mathews went two scoreless innings, with one hit and four strikeouts.
Other News: Leonardo Bernal Wins Player of the Week Honors
In other news around the Cardinals farm system, Double-A Springfield catcher Leonardo Bernal was named the Texas League Player of the Week for the week of May 19 – 25.
Springfield won five of six games against Tulas, improving to 24-21 and a tie with for first place with Arkansas in the Texas League North Conference. Bernal was instrumental in the series, going 10-for-20 with a double, three home runs and 13 RBIs. For the season, Bernal, the Cardinals’ No. 6 prospect, has a slash line of .265/.368/.487, with six home runs and 22 RBIs.
On Tuesday, the Cardinals announced that outfielder Travis Honeyman had been transferred from Single-A Palm Beach to High-A Peoria. The No. 24 prospect hit an RBI single in his first at bat for the Chiefs that night, going 1-for-3.