The Cubs signed backup catcher Luis Torrens back in January and it wasn’t a big sample size, but he impressed the team enough during spring training to make the Opening Day roster as the third catcher behind Yan Gomes and Tucker Barnhart.

The Cubs added Torrens to the 40-man roster on Tuesday, selecting his contract from Triple-A as they take one step closer to officially putting him on the active 26-man roster for Opening Day.

While Torrens does have some success in his MLB career and showed solid power in spring training, the Cubs probably wanted to keep him around for sure after a possible injury to a different catcher.

Along with Torrens, Dom Nuñez signed a minor league deal with the Cubs this offseason and this past weekend he suffered an injury. Nuñez was the other depth catcher stashed away at Triple-A and there’s a chance that if Torrens didn’t make the Cubs roster, then he’d opt out of his minor league deal. That would have left the Cubs with no solid options in case of an injury to Gomes or Barnhart.

If Nuñez begins the season on the injured list, then the Triple-A catchers may end up being Jake Washer and Bryce Windham early on.

So, now that Torrens is headed to the Cubs Opening Day roster, David Ross can feel more comfortable pinch-hitting for one of the starting catchers with Torrens on the bench. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where Torrens gets time in the infield, but I guess in case of emergency he could go out to first, second and third base, where he has logged some innings in his MLB career.

Luis Torrens Career Summary

The 26-year-old was originally signed by the New York Yankees in 2012 as an international free agent coming out of Venezuela. He had an interesting path to the majors, as the Cincinnati Reds selected him in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft and was then traded to the San Diego Padres. He made his MLB debut as a 20-year-old with the Padres after not playing a single game above Single-A Ball in the Yankees’ minor league system.

As you may already know, when a player is taken in the Rule 5 Draft, he has to remain on the active roster the whole season. So, at 20 and playing into his age 21 season, with little experience in the upper minors, Torrens struggled and barely even played at the end of 2017. Torrens ended his first MLB season slashing .163/.243/.203. He only played in 56 games, starting 31 times, and Torrens started six games and had 29 plate appearances in the final two months of the season.

Torrens spent all of 2018 in the minors, playing at Advanced A-Ball in the Padres’ farm system. He had a solid batting average that year at .280, while posting a .726 OPS in 122 games. He improved in 2019, and had the best season of his minor league career, posting an .873 OPS with 15 home runs in 350 at-bats in Double-A. He was called up to the Padres on Sept. 16, 2019, but only got into seven games and went 3-for-14 at the plate.

In 2020, Torrens was dealt from the Padres to the Mariners at the trade deadline. In the shortened 2020 season, Torrens slashed .257/.325/.371, in 70 at-bats. The right-handed hitter was solid for the Mariners in 2021, hitting 15 home runs and recording a .730 OPS in 108 games. Unfortunately, 2022 was a down year for him, as he only played in 51 games, missing time with a shoulder injury, and overall struggled at the plate, mustering up a .581 OPS in 151 at-bats.

But Torrens does have a track record of at least hitting close to league average, which is more than fine coming from a backup catcher. From 2020-22, he’s posted a 93 wRC+. Again, not special, but he can hit a little. However, Torrens definitely doesn’t fit the mold of being a good defensively behind the plate, rating negatively in defensive runs saved in every season he’s played in the majors.