University of Massachusets Athletics
Torra Makes His Way To Class AAA
June 25, 2008 | Baseball
June 25, 2008
But that one step is still a pretty long one.
Torra, 23, is a pitcher in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization and last night he was scheduled to make his second start at Class AAA Tucson of the Pacific Coast League.
Class AAA is the last minor league step. The next stop would be the major leagues.
"Everyone wants to make it up to the next level," said Torra in a phone interview last week. "I'm very pleased with how I'm progressing. To continue on from where I ended up last year, I'm very pleased with the progression I'm making."
Torra had been the ace of the staff for Class AA Mobile in the Southern League. He got the word in a meeting a week ago Friday, and made his first start last Sunday in Tucson against Colorado Springs.
"He had really pitched the best of the group that was in Double A," said A.J. Hinch, Arizona's director of player development. "He's obviously having a nice season, throwing a lot of strikes and being able to mix his pitches.
"I felt like he was mature enough to handle the jump."
Torra had made 13 starts for the Mobile Bay Bears. After starting the season 4-1, he left the Class AA team with a 5-5 record. The Bay Bears, however, were in the Southern Division basement when Torra left.
His statistics were more than solid. He had a 2.85 earned-run average, and was the only Bay Bears Advertisement starter with an ERA under 3.00.
In 79 innings, he struck out 50 and walked 12, and averaged 5.7 strikeouts per nine innings. He had the only complete game on the Mobile staff, and his walks surrendered were the fewest of any Mobile starter.
"We were struggling a little bit as a team. I had a couple of tough outings, but for the most part, I had been pretty consistent," Torra said.
Then before that Friday game, Mobile manager Hector de la Cruz and pitching coach Jeff Pico called Torra into the office to give him the news. The former Pittsfield High School and University of Massachusetts standout admitted to being a little surprised because of the timing of the call-up.
"Usually, when they ask to meet you in the office, you have an idea you're moving somewhere," Torra said. "If it's something about working on (your game), it's usually just the pitching coach (in the meeting). So I had an idea.
"I was pretty happy" after the meeting, he added. "I know I had a good season so far, and I was hoping to make it up here at some point this year."
Torra's first start for the Sidewinders was what would be described in the Major League Baseball statistic book as a "quality start." The right-hander threw six innings against Colorado Springs, giving up three runs, all earned, on five hits. He walked one batter and struck out three. The Sky Sox eventually needed 11 innings to beat the Sidewinders 12-9.
Hinch, in fact, called it a quality start in an interview.
"Coming into an offensive ballpark and pitching to guys he's not accustomed to ... it was definitely a quality start," he explained.
"He had the team in position to win. He probably could have gone another inning."
Torra only went six innings in that game because another Arizona prospect, pitcher Max Scherzer, needed to throw some innings and was scheduled to go after Torra's outing.
The newest Sidewinder said he wasn't very nervous, and whatever nerves he had right off the bat were taken care of quickly. The leadoff hitter got a single, but Torra enduced the next batter to hit into a double play.
"As soon as I got the double play, everything just seemed to fall right back into where I left off in Double A," he said.
And it was kind of a homecoming for Torra, who has spent a lot of his rehabilitation time after having labrum surgery in 2005.
"There were a lot of friends and fans, a bunch of people from Phoenix drove down. A lot of people from the Little League (in Tucson) I helped coach came to the game," said Torra. "I had a pretty good cheering section."
After being the 31st player chosen in the 2005 Draft, Torra has had to battle back from the labrum surgery. In four-plus seasons, Torra is 17-17 with a 4.56 ERA. After starting 2007 1-4 with an 11.57 ERA at Class A Visalia, he finished up with a 10-3 second half for a 12-10 overall record. His August was outstanding, going 5-1 with a 2.72 ERA.
Torra said that his August 2007 performance has been a big factor in what he's been able to do so far in 2008.
"Right from the first start when I got my first win, and with every start, I got more and more confident," the Pittsfield resident explained. "I'm able to locate my pitches where they need to be. Even in my last 3-4 games, I've had more dominating games, even though I lost one in Jacksonville and gave up some runs against Mississippi in the seventh inning. I felt like I was in control of the game."
Hinch, a former major league catcher who is in his second year with Arizona, said that Torra has had to "dig down and persevere" while climbing back up the proverbial mountain.
"You see more guys like him advance with the ability to command the fastball, the ability to throw a secondary pitch behind in the count," said Hinch. "He's catching up to where we envisioned him being when we drafted him."
Torra said that his fastball has been consistently clocked in the 87-91-mph range. His secondary pitches have been getting better as well. The curve, however, has been a bit of a problem lately, so Torra said he was working with Pico on a slider before being called up. The hurler hopes that he'll continue that work with Tucson pitching coach Mike Parrott.
"When I first came back from the surgery, especially in the first half of last season, it was frustrating. You wondered if having the surgery and everything was the right way to go," said Torra.
"Ever since the second half of last year, everything keeps building on each start and improving. Even though I don't throw as hard any more, I still feel like I'm a better pitcher now than I was before the surgery."
This off-season could be big for Torra, as the Diamondbacks may put him on their 40-man major league roster. Hinch said that discussion wouldn't take place until October or November.
"All I can do is go out and pitch the best I can," Torra continued. "Wherever they keep me or send me, I'll just keep working hard."
