Luis Torrens opens up on riding tumultuous career…
Post columnist Steve Serby catches up with Mets catcher Luis Torrens for some Q&A.
Q: After you had been hit in the groin by a foul tip on May 11, what did your spouse let you know?
A: (Laugh) First factor she instructed me was, “We already have two kids.” We’re protected in that half. That one was not the first one, so we’re used to when that occurs.
Q: You stated you had been going to change your protecting cup.
A: It’s just a cup that the MMA guys use. It’s means higher. This one has more of a mould and it variety of like kinds for me personally to maintain every part in.
Q: Why is enjoying catcher enjoyable?
A: You all the time have the chance to make an influence on the sport every pitch.
Q: Favorite catchers?
A: Buster Posey and Yadier Molina.
Q: Sum up your mentality on the sphere.
A: A warrior. I like to compete. It’s a battle on the sphere, you recognize, when you compete against different groups. That’s how I feel. It’s you against me.
Q: What is the largest adversity you had to overcome?
A: I’d say my shoulder surgical procedure in 2015. I misplaced nearly two years.
Q: What was the bottom level for you?
A: This is a sport I play since I used to be actually younger … (An) 18-year-old child, and I missed two years, it was exhausting for sure. You don’t know how you’re going to come back.
Luis Torrens #13 of the New York Mets is checked on by a coach and is pulled from the sport in the sixth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Citi Field, Sunday, May 11, 2025. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
Q: Did you suppose your career is likely to be over?
A: It’s a chance that would possibly occur where my career could be over.
Q: From your Instagram: “In life, you are either the passenger or the pilot. It’s your choice.”
A: For me, that means you may be a chief or you’re a follower. Me personally, I’d reasonably be the pilot. I’d reasonably be the one that takes control of where I am going in my life and in my career as opposed to just getting on as a passenger and saying, “You know what? Take me wherever you want.” I need that control in my life.
Q: “If you think money is stopping you from doing something, it’s because you don’t really want to do it.”
A: Money offers you a lot of alternatives to do a lot of various things, but at the tip of the day you variety of have to need to do it within your self to find a way to obtain whatever objective it’s that you’ve got. So if you don’t really need to do it, you’re not going to do it whether or not you’ve got money or you don’t.
Q: “When our attitudes exceed our abilities, even the impossible becomes possible.”
A: I feel the perspective of a individual is what brings people to their highest peak. There are a lot of people where you see they’ve a ton of expertise and then they’ve a dangerous perspective, so they’re never ready to maximize on all that expertise and all that potential that they’ve. But when you see that perspective and the expertise variety of meshes collectively, you’ll find a way to see the kind of influence that a individual could make.
Q: “The happiest people don’t have the best things, they just appreciate the good things they have.”
A: I’ve my tattoo where it says “Be Grateful” [on his left forearm]. There are a lot of people that have every part in the world, all the assets, and they’re depressing and they dwell their life nearly in disappointment. So when you begin to respect the little issues in life, that’s where you’re ready to actually respect all the moments. So for me it’s important to have that kind of gratitude in direction of life.
Q: What are your strengths as a catcher?
A: I feel catcher’s one of those positions where the mental half of the sport might be probably the most important. When you’re paying consideration to how to get a participant out, you’re actually variety of enjoying that recreation with them to strive to create the best recreation plan that you probably can. But in the way in which that I put together myself day in and day trip as a catcher, I actually suppose that I do a actually good job and that’s half of the mentality of being a catcher for this crew.
Mets pitcher Reed Garrett is congratulated by catcher Luis Torrens (R) after he will get the save for the Mets against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the ninth inning at Citi Field in Queens, New York on Sunday, May 25, 2025. JASON SZENES/NY POST
Q: Is there a higher feeling than throwing anyone out?
A: One of the best.
Q: Are there guys you haven’t thrown out yet who you need to throw out?
A: I don’t concentrate to that. I’m just targeted on throwing all people out, actually.
Q: Why do you suppose you’re so good at that?
A: Well, first and foremost, you’ve got to give a lot of credit to the pitchers who are actually good at holding the runners, getting fast to home. And then you also have to give credit to the center infielders who are all getting into the correct place making the proper tag. Everyone thinks that it’s only me, but this is a complete union of guys.
White Sox’s Miguel Vargas lies at home plate as New York Mets catcher Luis Torrens reacts after he scores on a RBI triple by Andrew Benintendi during the sixth inning at Citi Field in Queens on Wednesday, May 28, 202 JASON SZENES/NY POST
Q: What elements of your recreation do you need to work on?
A: I feel consistency’s one thing that we all try for from our complete careers, and to strive to discover completely different strategies on how to proceed to improve as a participant.
Q: Is there one space that you need to be more constant in?
A: Hitting.
Q: How about as a catcher? Framing?
A: Everything. I need to be the best model of myself, be a good framer, be a good blocker, be a good thrower, be good calling the video games. When people ask me that, I all the time say every part.
Q: Why do you get pleasure from calling the sport?
A: It’s enjoyable. I feel it’s a lot of duty. That’s how you can also make a lot of influence in the sport.
Q: What is it like catching Kodai Senga’s ghost fork?
A: It’s a pitch that we call just because of the motion and the effectiveness against hitters, so it’s positively enjoyable to call.
Q: What is it like when Shohei Ohtani is in the batter’s box?
A: It’s important to call good pitches and not repeat the identical pitch over and over, so just keep him off stability.
Q: Do you speak to hitters behind the plate?
A: I like to have a dialog with them. Because I also like when I hit have a dialog with the catcher.
Q: What’s the best dialog you’ve had?
A: I can’t actually bear in mind in element what the conversations had been about, but there are some guys that like to speak a lot and different guys that aren’t essentially as open in speaking.
Q: What was it like for you when the Padres saved you on the roster in 2017 even though you never performed above Class-A?
A: It was a shock for me. And also I used to be coming back from rehabbing a surgical procedure that I hadn’t performed in nearly two years at that level. I didn’t even know that the Rule 5 draft existed at that level.
Q: Was it intimidating for you?
A: I wouldn’t say it was intimidating, I variety of take every part as a problem. All of us baseball gamers suppose that we’re succesful of enjoying in the foremost leagues, so it wasn’t intimidating in that sense. But I feel the attention-grabbing half was that normally a participant’s development occurs in the minor leagues. For me, it was occurring in the foremost leagues, which is certainly completely different.
Q: What was it like pitching a tenth inning and getting the win in 2022 with the Mariners?
A: It’s an attention-grabbing state of affairs because all the time I’m either joking around throwing a bullpen or I’m on the market throwing differing kinds of pitches, and the supervisor [Scott Servais] knew that I’d all the time do that, so in this state of affairs it was really a win or lose recreation, so he threw me in the state of affairs and it was positively enjoyable.
Luis Torrens pitching with the Mariners in 2022. Getty Images
Q: How’s your curveball?
A: I just threw fastballs.
Q: How’s fast is your fastball?
A: The quickest was 89. But I feel I’ve more than that (smile).
Q: So if Carlos Mendoza requested you for an inning, you’re prepared?
A: For sure (smile).
Q: You grew to become a fan favourite in Seattle.
A: I’m actually appreciative of how the followers and the group and everybody variety of embraced me over there, but it was a actually good time and I still have a lot of great mates over there.
Luis Torrens during his time with the Mariners. Getty Images
Q: Why did you initially signal with the Yankees in 2012?
A: Because they provided me probably the most money. When I used to be younger that was one of my favourite groups.
Q: Describe assembly Reggie Jackson in 2014.
A: It was cool for sure. He’s a massive persona in the sport of baseball. I had numerous alternatives to find a way to have conversations with him when I used to be with the Yankees group.
Q: What drives you?
A: First, my household.
Luis Torrens of the Mets hits an RBI triple during the second inning against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, May 11, 2025 Robert Sabo for NY Post
Q: Some people are superstitious and received’t put on No. 13.
A: Bad luck?
Q: Not you?
A: No, not me (giggle).
Q: Three dinner visitors?
A: Jesus, Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Jordan.
Q: Favorite entertainer?
A: Bad Bunny.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Pasticho.
Q: You attended final 12 months’s U.S. Open. Who is your favourite tennis participant?
A: Rafael Nadal.
Q: How would you sum up what your journey has been like? It hasn’t been straightforward.
A: Yeah, clearly it wasn’t straightforward, but I feel every part that I’ve gone through up until this level of my career has put me in this alternative to be in such a great group. Everything that I’ve had to face in the previous has molded me into the participant that I’m in the present day.
Q: How do you want enjoying in New York?
A: It’s great to be right here in New York. Since I used to be a child, I used to be initially a fan of the Giants because of Barry Bonds, a fan of the Yankees because of [Derek] Jeter. And then as I bought a little bit older, in Venezuela me and actually the remainder of the nation had been massive followers of Edgardo Alfonzo, who performed right here, and Endy Chávez. Johan Santana as nicely. So yeah, I used to be ready to signal with the Yankees. I’ve never performed for the Giants, but I’m right here so I used to be nearly ready to examine off a couple of childhood goals that I had as a child, so it’s been actually particular.
Mets’ Luis Torrens (13) celebrates after hitting an RBI double during the eighth inning of a baseball recreation against the St. Louis Cardinals Friday, April 18, 2025. AP
Q: What was your response when the Yankees traded you to the Mets final May for $100,000?
A: I used to be tremendous excited. I used to be actually shocked as nicely because I wasn’t anticipating it to occur. But when it did occur, I just thought to myself, “Wow. Everything that I’ve gone through, now I’m here.”
Q: You once stated, “My competition is me.”
A: That was one thing I discovered early on in my career, where it was me just competing against myself, where I used to be just attempting to get higher from the day before. It helps eradicate the distraction and all the noise about you competing against anyone else. You can just maintain your self accountable each and every day to strive to get higher from the day before.
Q: What are you most proud of?
A: I don’t see them as failures, but anytime that I’ve been despatched down I’ve used it as a motivating issue. Obviously it’s occurred a bunch in my career. I’m ready to look at myself in the mirror and say, “It’s time to go after it, it’s time to get it.” So I feel after every single time I’ve primarily failed, it’s all the time given me an alternative to variety of mild that fire up under me again and to strive to make it back to the massive leagues and have success.
Q: What do you suppose New York could be like if the Mets made it to a World Series?
A: I feel it’ll be loopy if we made it to the World Series. Last 12 months clearly we bought fairly close and it was a large expertise, phenomenal expertise with the fan base. But proper now, that’s our objective is to make it to the World Series and hopefully win it when we get there.
Q: Is this crew good enough to win a World Series?
A: For sure. … Everyone has the identical dedication. And then just the expertise degree that we’ve got, I feel we’re all succesful of reaching completely different heights because of our dedication and our dedication to pulling in the identical direction.
Q: At the tip of the season, what will Mets followers be saying about Juan Soto?
A: I hope that they’re as excited and appreciative of him as we’re in the clubhouse, and he’s going to put up large numbers and he’s going to have a large influence on this group this 12 months and for years to come. So hopefully he helps us win a championship, which is what we’re all attempting to do, and hopefully they’re appreciative of it.
Stay up to date with the newest trending topics! Visit our web site every day for the freshest Sports information and content material, fastidiously curated to keep you knowledgeable.
