The Luis Torrens Acquisition Continues To Pay Great Dividends
Being a backup catcher is never an easy task. It can be difficult to find any sort of rhythm, especially offensively. That does not apply to Luis Torrens, who has done incredibly well in that role. His bat has been a pleasant surprise, giving the New York Mets a spark at a point in the […]
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Being a backup catcher is never an easy task. It can be difficult to find any sort of rhythm, especially offensively. That does not apply to Luis Torrens, who has done incredibly well in that role. His bat has been a pleasant surprise, giving the New York Mets a spark at a point in the season when they needed it most. Torrens’ impact in all areas helped the team earn an important win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.
The Mets had opportunities to score in the first and second inning. They wasted both of those chances, and were on the verge of doing the same in the third inning. Pete Alonso and Mark Vientos struck out with the bases loaded, leaving it all up to Torrens. Former Met Dennis Santana was able to get two hitters to chase his slider out of the zone, but not a third. The reliever left one over the middle of the zone and Torrens tattooed it, clearing the bases with a double to deep left-center field.
“I really had to lock in during that at-bat. Anytime I can help the team offensively or defensively in any way that I can I’m always happy to do that, especially the way I came through today, I was able to get the job done,” Torrens said.
Later in the game, the catcher’s defensive impact came through. Trailing 5-2, the Pirates loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning. Reed Garrett was having trouble throwing strikes, but Torrens was able to help him out. Jack Suwinski had two strikes called against him that were low and out of the zone. The second one would have resulted in a run scoring, but Torrens framed it to perfection. Garrett would go on to strike out Suwinski with the next pitch, leaving three runners stranded.
In 44 plate appearances, Torrens is slashing .317/.364/.610 (.973 OPS) with three home runs and eight RBIs. He has recorded at least one hit in seven of his 11 starts, and he has three multi-hit games. All Torrens has done is produce.
He won the backup job over Tomás Nido and has never really looked back. President of baseball operations David Stearns has made a lot of good decisions to help this team push themselves into contention for a a wild card spot. Trading for Torrens and then keeping him on the active roster was certainly one of those.
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