The Cubs have reinstated outfielder Cody Bellinger from the paternity list, per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Catcher Luis Torrens was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.
Torrens, 26, has appeared in 13 games for the Cubs this season but tallied only 22 plate appearances. He’s 5-for-20 with a double, a walk and eight strikeouts in that time (.250/.318/.300).
Signed to a minor league deal back in January, Torrens has spent the past two-plus seasons with the Mariners after being sent from San Diego to Seattle alongside Ty France and Andres Munoz in the Austin Nola trade. He’s totaled 266 big league games and 799 plate appearances, batting .227/.289/.352 with 19 home runs, a 7.8% walk rate and a 26% strikeout rate. Torrens hasn’t made much hard contact in his limited plate appearances this year but showed a knack for it from 2020-22 when he averaged 91 mph off the bat and posted a hearty 45.7% hard-hit rate.
Defensively, Torrens has drawn below-average grades from Defensive Runs Saved and most pitch-framing metrics. He has a career 21.7% caught-stealing rate that’s below the league average, and he came up empty in his only attempt to throw a runner out with the Cubs. He did throw out nine of 28 attempted thieves (32.1%) as recently as last season.
The Cubs will have a week to either trade Torrens, attempt to pass him through outright waivers or release him. He was outrighted by the Mariners last August, and that prior outright assignment gives him the ability to reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency if the Cubs place him on waivers and he goes unclaimed.
Someone will want him. No options left so any return would be acceptable.
Shows the Cubs want to keep Velasquez bat at major league level, perhaps give Happ/Seiya a day off here and there.
Morel still raking in the minors also.
What’s Morel’s strikeout % at AAA? Still somewhere close to 40%? It’s only gonna get worse against MLB pitching. I don’t see how ppl think he is good when he strikes out that much – he will never be good at the MLB level with the lack of discipline he has.
Walk rate is up so he is working on it.
He has the highest WRC in the entire minor leagues lol
And Joey Gallo is still hitting above .220… so what does that tell me? It’s still extremely early, and more likely a fluke than it is reality. Morel is a poor man’s Baez. Good athlete, terrible approach.
That’s part of the point. Morel is raking and they still want to keep Velasquez up as the extra outfielder.
His K rate is 29.3% in AAA right now, perhaps more time in the minors will help him cut it down more, but make no mistake, he’s leading the minors in wRC+, plus the power, speed and versatility all play in the majors.
Just looks to me like you either never seen the guy play or you’re just another white Sox fan trying to troll… No one is saying he’s gonna be a world beater but anyone with a shred of prospect acumen can see that the tools play.
@ Capi and Mike
All good points from you both. But it’s not only a vote of confidence towards Velazquez and a nod towards how Morel is playing at Iowa – – but I am hoping it also it indicates the Cubs are pleased with the performance of Miguel Amaya. Amaya would be a huge bonus to the future make-up at the MLB level. Amaya was originally looked at, as a promising defensive catcher, but so far this year at AA Tennessee, he’s been doing well offensively also.
Morel would benefit more getting regular ABs at AAA than the occasional start or PH at the the major league level.
True. It seems that Morel will have to show the Cubs that he can be trusted on defense at 3B. Until that happens, there just aren’t enough ABs for him, in Chicago.
If Morel can cut the Ks a bit more and improve the D, he’s a much better fit on the roster than Madrigal. He should be in AAA right now and not faking 3B while only playing every few days. That’s not going to improve his trade value. And he still has options so no risk there.
Yeah his D has to improve a little, but my biggest concern that he failed to make any adjustment last year after his hot start. The league adjusted to him and he didn’t really do much after that. He’s killing it in Iowa and I hope he does get his k-rate lowered at least a little bit and earns another shot in MLB.
Come home to Seattle
I had forgotten that Preller had traded Munoz, Torrens and France for Austin Nola. He could spend $1B of the owner’s money every year and still trash the team.
Now it’s time to DFA Rios. He is a wasted roster space.
Rios, Mancini, and Hosmer make up the trio of “one of these guys are bound to get hot” hopefuls. Of the 3 Mancini is most likely to survive
Should have been Rios. At least Torrens could play in the field.
Yeah, Rios has been brutal.
So Ross is breaking with the trilogy of C’s roster finally. Nunez is lacking a bit defensively but is a pretty good hitter and LH. Velasquez is getting it done and deserves a spot. Like I said he’s struggled at every level he’s been at at first then figures it out. I agree that if Torrens gets claimed and I think he probably will or maybe even traded, That we’ll see some movement in the minor leagues all the way up the ladder as some guys seem to be playing at levels below their ability. PCA, Brown, Wicks, Amaya, all could use promotions. They are playing Morel mostly at 3B and he’s definitely improved his pitch swing selection but it could get even better. Mervis should be here and it would make the lineup even better than it’s been already. Cubs have some pretty good C’s all the way up the minors. Unless Torrens makes it through the DFA and accepts the assignment to AAA then I see promotions coming.
Super streaky kid, but we saw him mash lefties pretty good down the stretch in 2021; and that was the only time he’s ever gotten regular abs for a consistent period. I’m sure we’ll see him somewhere soon