Ronald Torreyes

Ronald Alcides Torreyes Solorsano

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 150 lb.

• Debut September 13, 2015

• Born September 2, 1992 in Libertad, Barinas Venezuela

BR page

Biographical Information

Ronald Torreyes made the majors in 2015 but has bounced around from team to team.

Torreyes was originally signed by scout Jose Fuentes for the Cincinnati Reds in his native Venezuela and began play with the VSL Reds as a 17-year-old in 2010. He hit a blazing .390 with 20 doubles and 10 triples in 67 games, and the Reds quickly brought the young man stateside. He added 18 games with the AZL Reds and 6 more with the Dayton Dragons that summer, hitting .349 in the Desert before cooling down a bit in Dayton. Overall, his batting line for the season was an amazing .370/.434/.564 in 91 games, with 46 extra base hits. He played all three infield positions that first year. In 2011, he returned to Dayton as a full-time second baseman, playing 67 games with similarly torrid results. His batting line was .356/.398/.457, with 9 doubles, 5 triples and 3 homers.

After the 2011 season, he was sent in a trade to the Cubs on December 23rd, joining P Travis Wood and OF Dave Sappelt in a deal that landed the Reds top-class reliever Sean Marshall. Even though the other two players acquired by the Cubs already had major league experience and were considered solid prospects in their own right, Torreyes' amazing batting averages at a very young age made him the most intriguing player in the trade. He was sent to the Daytona Cubs in 2012, where he hit .264 in 115 games, scoring 62 runs and driving in 42. In 2013, he moved up to the AA Tennessee Smokies; in 65 games there, he hit .263 with 35 runs scores and 25 RBIs.

In early July 2013, Torreyes was traded to the Houston Astros in exchange for two of the Astros' international bonus pool slots. The Cubs announced they received slots 2 and 3 from the Astros, which amount to $784,700 [1]. He hit .278 in 38 games for the Corpus Christi Hooks the rest of the way to end the season at .269/.329/.368 in 103 games. In 2014, he played in AAA for the first time, with the Oklahoma City RedHawks. He had another good season with the bat, hitting .298 in 126 games with 65 runs. He did not get a call-up to the majors that season, however, but was added to the Astros' 40-man roster after the season.

He did not make the Astros' roster out of spring training in 2015 and hit only .200 in 19 games for the AAA Fresno Grizzlies. On May 15th, he was designated for assignment to make room on the roster for Preston Tucker. The decision led to his contract being sold to the Toronto Blue Jays, who moved him back to AA with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. It was a brief and unhappy stay, as he hit .140 in 16 games before changing organizations again, moving to the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 12th, where he took the spot of former major leaguer Darwin Barney with the Oklahoma City Dodgers, then was sent back down to AA after a few days, heading to the Tulsa Drillers, in the Texas League. Ronald hit .293 in 62 games for Tulsa and .306 in 13 games for Oklahoma City, earning his first opportunity to play in the Show in late September. He made his debut for the Dodgers against the Arizona Diamondbacks on September 13th, going 1 for 2 with a double off Randall Delgado for his first big league hit. Another prospect, Jose Peraza, had started the game at second base, and Ronald had taken over for him as a defensive substitute in the middle of the 5th inning. He went 2 for 6 in 8 games for the Dodgers.

On January 12, 2016, Ronald was on the move again, heading to the New York Yankees alongside P Tyler Olson in as trade for minor league OF Rob Segedin. That stay was brief as well, as on January 25th, he was placed on waivers and claimed by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Only two days later, he was designated for assignment again after the Angels needed his roster spot for IF Jefry Marte, acquired in a trade that same day. On February 2nd, he was back with the Yankees, as they claimed him off waivers, cutting OF Lane Adams to make room on the roster for him. He played 72 games as the main back-up infielder for the Yankees that year, hitting .258 with 1 homer and 12 RBIs. In 2017 he found himself starting at shortstop during the first month of the season while Didi Gregorius began the year on the disabled list. He did very well, hitting .313 with 1 homer and 13 RBIs in 21 games, contributing to an excellent start by the team. Overall, he appeared in 108 games as a utility infielder, hitting .292 with 3 homers and 36 RBIs. He also was used in a couple of games in the postseason. He would have continued in the same role in 2018, but there were times when he had to be sent to AAA because of roster crunches affecting other back-up position players. As a result, he played just 41 games and had 100 at-bats, hitting .280. Towards the end of the year, when the Yankees had concerns about the health of Gregorius, they acquired former starting SS Adeiny Hechavarria and he basically took over Ronald's old job, making him redundant. On November 25th, he was designated for assignment to make room on the roster for P Parker Bridwell. On November 28th, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs for future considerations. However, the Cubs declined to offer him a contract and he became a free agent, signing with the Minnesota Twins on December 6th

Related Sites

• Ronald Torreyes on mlb.com
• BR Minors page