Gateway’s Joe Torres, a No.1 draft pick in 2000, believes he will make the majors soon

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Gateway’s Joe Torres, a No.1 draft pick in 2000, believes he will make the majors soon

Sports

Friday, 22 May 2009 10:39

By Ken Jackson
Staff Writer
The light at the end of the tunnel is finally coming closer for former Gateway High hurler Joe Torres.
For a change, it’s not the headlamp of an oncoming train.
Torres, 26, the lefty who was the 10th overall selection in the 2000 Major League Baseball draft, is now with the Texas Rangers, and he feels like he’s closer than he’s ever been to the majors.
His 2009 team — the first one, at least — is the Frisco Roughriders, which plays in a suburb of Dallas in the Class AA Texas League.
After being drafted by the Los Angeles Angels and spending the last two seasons in the Chicago White Sox organization, Torres signed as a free agent on Dec. 1 with the Rangers, passing on offers from Chicago and the New York Mets.
The White Sox offered a contract renewal without an invitation to the spring training major-league camp. The Mets, the boyhood favorite team of Torres and his father, Hughes, offered a chance to come to the major league camp. The Rangers made the same offer.
“The Mets was the one my family wanted. I wanted it, too,” he said. “But I had a feeling (Mets GM) Omar Minaya was going to be proactive with the bullpen in free agency.”
Sure enough, the Mets signed Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz, who would have been roadblocks for Torres.
“I guessed right, so overall I’m pretty happy,” he said. “I appreciate the White Sox and everything they did for me; they have great people who’ve helped me out. But, I wanted to be seen by big league coaches, that was important to me.”
Torres has been plagued by shoulder and elbow problems for most of his nine-year minor-league career. For every healthy season (2000, ‘02, ‘06) there’s been a year on the disabled list. He had Tommy John ligament surgery late in 2003 that cost him the entire 2004 season, and it took two full seasons to rediscover his command.
He signed with the White Sox in 2007 and struck out 45 batters in 39 innings, spread among three low-level minor leagues.
Torres, a starter until 2005, had his best year as a reliever last year for Birmingham of the Class AA Southern League. He led the circuit with 59 appearances, and went 3-1 with a 2.68 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 50 1/3 innings. Batters hit just .164 against him; they hit .119 off him at home in 29 innings.
He said switching organizations wasn’t as hard this winter, having already done that before the 2007 season. But the Rangers brought a new level of unfamiliarity.
“I didn’t know anybody, maybe one person in the organization, but being around guys like Kevin Millwood and Josh Hamilton is pretty gratifying,” he said.
He came into Texas’ camp as a non-roster invitee, meaning his chances of making the big-league roster were slim. But, he was treated well.
“The thinking with every body there is, ‘We’re bringing you in with a shot to make the club.’ In my case, the Rangers want pitchers who can get hitters out,” he said.
And he did that in his first two spring outings, solid one-inning efforts.
Then, the injury bug reared its ugly head again. During a weight room session, he felt a twinge in his back which was diagnosed as a muscle strain.
He was reassigned to the Rangers’ minor-league camp March 19 and given some days off to rest. But two erratic outings in which, “I couldn’t find the plate,” told him the rest wasn’t enough.
“Last year I figured out the workout program, and I proved it worked,” he said. “I just came back too soon. I worked back in throwing batting practice.”
When the Rangers broke spring training camp in Surprise, Ariz., Torres stayed behind to participate in extended spring training.
Torres hoped to be assigned to Class AAA Oklahoma City, one stop from the big leagues. The RedHawks’ pitching staff didn’t include a single lefthander on opening day. But a roster spot never presented itself.
“They’ve been moving guys from the big club to Triple-A and back, they’re pretty loaded up there,” he said.
Four weeks ago, he landed in the Roughriders’ bullpen. In nine appearances, he’s struck out 15 batters in 10 2/3 innings — but he’s walked 11.
He’s given up earned runs in three of the games for a 3.38 ERA that Torres thinks is deceiving.
“Early on it felt like all or nothing on the mound, a walk or a punchout. But I’m feeling okay now,” he said. “It all rests on me doing what I have to do and be ready if somebody struggles up there. But, the big league team is doing really well.”
If he can reach Oklahoma City this season, he’d be one step away from finally reaching the big leagues after toiling for nine seasons and 464 innings in the minors.
His outlook, for a change, is bright.
“It’s coming soon,” he said. “I can now say I’ve been working too hard for too long for it not to happen.”