José Torres (baseball)
José Marcos Torres is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He made his MLB debut in 2016.Career
Torres signed as an international free agent with the Oakland Athletics in July 2010. The Athletics began using him exclusively as a relief pitcher during the 2015 season, and he had a 2.56 earned run average in innings pitched mostly for the Beloit Snappers of the Class A Midwest League, while also making three appearances for the Stockton Ports of the Class A-Advanced California League.
After the 2015 season, the Athletics added Torres to their 40-man roster to protect him from being eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft on November 20.The Athletics then traded Torres, Drew Pomeranz, and a player to be named later or cash considerations to the San Diego Padres for Marc Rzepczynski and Yonder Alonso on December 2.
Following the 2016 minor league season, the Padres promoted Torres to the major leagues on September 21. He pitched three innings for the Padres, and was then assigned to the Peoria Javelinas of the Arizona Fall League.
Torres made the Padres' Opening Day roster in 2017. He was 7-4 with a 4.21 ERA, and shared the major league lead in balks, with three.
He was placed on the MLB restricted list by the Padres in February 2018 as a result of an arrest for a domestic violence incident. On June 8, he was suspended for the remainder of the season without pay for violating MLB's personal conduct policy. On October 4, he was designated for assignment after the season was over, and on October 10, he was released after clearing outright waivers.Legal issues
Torres was arrested in December 2017 and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, criminal damage, and intimidation as a result of a domestic dispute in Phoenix, Arizona. He was also cited in a separate incident in December 2017 for a marijuana violation and drug paraphernalia possession/use.
