Tagged: Jose De La Torre

2014 Opening Day Affiliates Rosters

Opening Day is here for the minor leagues!

What follows are the announced rosters for each of the full-season minor-league affiliates for the Milwaukee Brewers, broken down by position group.

Nashville Sounds

Class-AAA Affiliate (Twitter: @nashvillesounds)

Manager: Rick Sweet

28 Total Players

Pitchers (13)

Catchers (3)

Infielders (9)

Outfielders (3)

—

Huntsville Stars

Class-AA Affiliate (Twitter: @HuntsvilleStars)

Manager: Carlos Subero

28 Total Players

Pitchers (14)

Catchers (3)

Infielders (7)

Outfielders (4)

  • Kentrail Davis
  • Mitch Haniger (@M_Hanny19)
  • Brock Kjeldgaard
  • D’Vontrey Richardson

—

BC Manatees

Class-A Advanced Affiliate (Twitter: @BCManatees)

Manager: Joe Ayrault

26 Total Players

Pitchers (13)

Catchers (2)

Infielders (8)

Outfielders (3)

—

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

Class-A Affiliate (Twitter: @TimberRattlers)

Manager: Matt Erickson

27 Total Players

Pitchers (13)

Catchers (3)

Infielders (6)

Outfielders (5)

*Player/Coach

Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers ’14 – #50 Jose De La Torre

BBtJN Logo

Baseball is a game that loves round numbers. Milestone totals in career hits, home runs, RBI, and on and on.

It’s in part because of baseball’s infatuation with numbers divisible by 10 that I’m writing up today’s profile of…

Jose De La Torre.

JoseDLT

You see, I try to get to each and every player on the 40-man roster regardless of their chances at the 25-man roster. They’ve earned that, in my eyes. But in the case of De La Torre, who will be wearing #50 in Spring Training, he has about as much chance of breaking camp with the parent club this season as does Jason Rogers, which is to say a lot of people would have to drop to the injury bug.

Don’t misunderstand, De La Torre has talent and could contribute to the Brewers bullpen at some point, but with the re-acquisition of Francisco Rodriguez on Friday, there’s one less spot in the big league bullpen and other guys with MLB experience and success are in front of him.

Then again, everybody in uniform has a chance, as the old saying is paraphrased, so let’s learn more about the 5’10” right-hander who hails from Puerto Rico.

De La Torre, believe it or not, was first signed as an amateur free agent back in January of 2004 by the Milwaukee Brewers. He was released three months later and wasn’t back under contract with a MLB franchise until signing with the New York Mets in June of 2006. He spent five and a half years in the Mets system before becoming a minor league free agent. From there he signed with the Cleveland Indians in February 2012 and a trade that summer sent De La Torre to the Boston Red Sox.

Finally, in May of 2013 at the age of 27 and with his fourth organization, De La Torre made his MLB debut for Boston. He pitched in seven games and covered 11.1 innings. He was wild in his time as a Red Sox reliever, walking 10, hitting one more, en route to a 1.765 WHIP and a 6.35 ERA. He allowed two home runs as well and his ERA+ wound up at just 66.

He was designated for assignment in September of last year when Clay Buccholz was activated off of Boston’s 60-day disabled list and was awarded to the Brewers on waivers.

So why would they claim a guy who put up such rough numbers for Boston?

Well, I may have strategically waited to mention that De La Torre struck out 15 hitters in those 11.1 big league innings and has career MiLB numbers of 2.82 ERA, 1.235 WHIP, 9.4 K/9, and a much more manageable 3.7 BB/9. The skill is there with a 2.89 FIP and he posted a 3.32 SIERA for what it’s worth as well.

Stuff-wise, De La Torre features a fastball, slider and change. The fastball sits in the low 90’s and at least during his MLB innings, his change up appears to be his best secondary pitch.

This spring will be more about getting ready for the season as opposed to trying to win a job. He’s likely ticketed for Nashville but could certainly be someone called upon by manager Ron Roenicke should the need arise.

—

Miss anyone along the way? Catch up on the Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers profiles to this point:

Brewers Finally Announce 2014 Jersey Numbers

Earlier today, the Brewers finally announced the jersey numbers that the players coming to big league camp will be wearing whilst at Maryvale.

The majority of the players who saw time at the MLB level in 2013 have not changed numbers, though two did. One coach gave up his number for a player. And of course the newest acquisitions and non-roster invitees all need number assignments as well.

Here are all the changes. (Keep in mind that my uniform number repository only counts players wearing a specific number while on the big league roster. I’ll update those pages after camp breaks.)

New Players on 40-Man Roster:

  • #50 – Jose De La Torre
  • #63 – Brooks Hall
  • #60 – Kevin Shackelford
  • #13 – Will Smith
  • #51 – Wei-Chung Wang
  • #25 – Hunter Morris
  • #61 – Jason Rogers
  • #3 – Elian Herrera

Players on 40-Man Roster Last Year With New Numbers:

  • #30 – Tyler Thornburg (switched from #63)
  • #38 – Wily Peralta (switched from #60)
  • #58 – Ariel Pena (switched from #73)

Both New Non-Roster Invitees (Players on MiLB contracts invited to big league camp) and Repeat Invitees w/New Numbers:

  • #59 – Zach Duke
  • #77 – David Goforth
  • #70 – Dustin Molleken
  • #66 – Robinzon Diaz
  • #72 – Cameron Garfield
  • #68 – Matt Pagnozzi
  • #71 – Adam Weisenburger (switched from #91)
  • #65 – Irving Falu
  • #24 – Lyle Overbay
  • #7 – Mark Reynolds
  • #67 – Eugenio Velez
  • #73 – Kentrail Davis (switched from #93)
  • #75 – Mitch Haniger
  • #76 – Kevin Mattison

Roster Move: Pitcher Claimed Off Waivers

jose dlt

Earlier today it was announced that the Milwaukee Brewers were awarded the waiver claim for RHP Jose De La Torre, late of the Boston Red Sox. The Sawx, as I lovingly refer to them, had to open a spot on their 40-man roster for the return of starter Clay Buchholz from the 60-day Disabled List. De La Torre was the player chosen and the Brewers submitted the winning claim.

Let’s learn a little bit about the newest employee of Mark Attanasio.

Jose De La Torre is a 5’10”, right-handed pitcher. Should it ever matter, he bats from the right side as well. De La Torre turns 28 years old next month and is originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico. As you already know if you follow me on Twitter…

He was 18 years old at the time. He also wasn’t a Brewers farmhand for very long as he was released on April 29th of that same year. He caught on in 2006 with the New York Mets and pitched with them until 2011 when he became a minor league free agent. From there it was a free agent contract with Cleveland and a trade the next season that got him into Boston’s system.

He made his Major League debut finally on May 12, 2013 for Boston and has been up and down a couple of times this year. It’s his first year on a 40-man roster so he does have two minor league option years remaining after this one.

De La Torre throws his fastballs in the low 90s but has been a strikeout pitcher during his time in pro ball to this point. For Boston this year in the majors he struck out 15 in 11.1 IP and in the minors he has piled up 410 strikeouts in 392.0 IP. Only once in a full season of pitching has he finished with a K/9 below 9.0, and that was back in 2007 for the St. Lucie Mets, New York’s High-A affiliate.

Besides reportedly throwing both a four- and two-seam fastball, De La Torre’s arsenal includes a slider and change up. All of his fastball velo was within the 91-92 range. His slider clocks in at just 83 MPH on average with the change up sitting at 85 MPH. (All pitch velocities are courtesy of FanGraphs.)

The Brewers officially optioned De La Torre to their rookie ball affiliate Helena following the successful claim, but a report from Adam McCalvy said…

Still, De La Torre is an intriguing option for the 2014 bullpen when at least one job will be up for grabs at Maryvale Baseball Park. As mentioned earlier, he’ll report to Spring Training at age 28 and while he’s hardly a spring chicken by baseball standards, the Brewers have had success with older journeyman type relievers and getting some good use out of their arms. Hopefully history can repeat itself to that end as De La Torre is still pre-arbitration and would be under team control through the 2018 season.

Low risk, potential reward. Can’t faultmoves like that.

…at least not anytime soon.