Luis Torres (minors03)

Luis Alberto Torres Rodriguez

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 180 lb.

• Born October 20, 1979 in Baranquilla Colombia (this article lists him as being born in San Felipe, Venezuela and as having a father from Colombia)

Biographical Information

Luis Torres played for the 1998 GCL Braves, hitting .243/.301/.337 and stealing 6 bases in 13 tries; he played mostly 2B and 3B. For the 2000 Tri-City Posse, he batted .245 and slugged .309.

Torres later became a pitcher for the Venezuelan national team. In the 2006 COPABE Olympic qualifiers, he was 0-1 with a 3.46 ERA. In the 2007 Pan American Games, Luis allowed two runs in six innings and had no decisions. In the 2007 Baseball World Cup, Torres shut out the German national team for 7 innings in a win but gave up 5 runs in 4 innings in a loss to Team Canada. He led Venezuela in innings (11) and strikeouts (11) and was 1-1 with a 4.09 ERA.

He was again active for Venezuela in the 2009 Baseball World Cup; his five games pitched tied Roger Luque for the team lead. He allowed 8 hits, 4 walks and one unearned run in ten innings. Among relievers, only Pedro Luis Lazo and Lucas Harrell has as many innings without an earned run. He then switched uniforms a few months later, to the Colombian national team for the 2010 South American Games as his father was from Colombia. He helped Colombia to a Silver Medal, but it may have been bittersweet as Venezuela got Gold with some of his 2009 teammates.

Torres then switched back to Venezuela for the 2011 Baseball World Cup. He was not as sharp as in the 2009 event - 3 1/3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. He led Venezuela with three games pitched in the 2011 Pan American Games later that month and had a 0-2, 5.79 record. He took losses in a 5-4 decision against Cuba and 14-13 versus the Dominican national team to tie Eliecer Navarro of Panama for the Games lead in defeats, but his 5.79 ERA was better than the team ERA of 6.17.