The Yankees have agreed to a minor league contract with catcher Luis Torrance, according to the team’s trade log on MLB.com.
He will be in camp as an undrafted free agent this spring. Torrance, 27, has spent time in the major leagues over the past five seasons, playing for the Mariners, Padres and Cubs. He had a strong 2021 for the Mariners with 15 home runs, a .243/.299/.431 batting line and 378 career plate appearances, but has generally struggled at the plate since then. In 196 plate appearances over the past two MLB seasons, Torrance has managed just a .229/.286/.307 slash line.The Yankees know Torrance well, having acquired him as an undrafted free agent out of Venezuela in 2012. The Padres drafted Torrance out of the Yankees system in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft, and he never threw a ball over A-ball. The rebuilding San Diego club acquired Torrance’s long-term rights and kept him on the majors list for the entire season. He spent most of the 2018-19 season in the minor leagues and pitched well in Double-A, but was traded to the Mariners along with Ty France, Andres Munoz and Taylor Trammell in the 2020 trade for Austin Nola and Dan Altavilla. Father. .
Overall, Torrens is a career .227/.289/.354 hitter in the bigs and a .246/.311/.486 hitter in Triple-A. He has at times shown the ability to be an above-average hitter relative to his position, and at his best he draws interesting ratings from Statcast in terms of his batted-ball profile. From 2020-22, Torrens averaged a hearty 91 mph off the bat and saw a sizable 45.7% of his batted balls travel at velocities of 95 mph or greater. But he’s also been too strikeout prone, sports a below-average walk rate and puts the ball on the ground far too often (49.9%) for someone who’s ranked in the 26th percentile of MLB players in terms of sprint speed (per Statcast). Defensively, Torrens has some encouraging traits and also some red flags. He’s thwarted a huge 37% of stolen base attempts against him in his professional career but also consistently delivered negative marks for framing.
It’s not a surprise to see the Yankees add some more catching depth. New York traded backup catcher Kyle Higashioka to the Padres as part of their deal to acquire Juan Soto, and they’ll face a decision on Ben Rortvedt this spring given that he’s out of minor league options. With prospect Austin Wells and veteran Jose Trevino already on the 40-man and likelier to make the roster, Rortvedt could be squeezed out, and Torrens adds some depth in the event that he’s claimed by another club. If not, he can join Rortvedt and Carlos Narvaez as catching options in Triple-A Scranton, where he could also see occasional action at first base — a position where Torrens has tallied 482 innings between the majors and minors.
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