The Guardians are losing another pitching mind, and this one is heading straight to Terry Francona’s staff in Cincinnati.
Joe Torres, Cleveland’s assistant pitching coach, has taken the head pitching coach job with Francona’s Reds, according to team insider Zack Meisel of The Athletic.
“Joe Torres, the Guardians’ assistant pitching coach, has taken the head pitching coach job with Terry Francona’s Cincinnati Reds,” Meisel posted.
Torres’ move comes after a strong run in Cleveland. He had served as the Guardians’ assistant pitching coach under Carl Willis since 2022, and Willis is set to return for 2027. Now Torres gets his own room to run the show alongside Francona, who knows Cleveland well as a former Guardians legend and now leads Cincinnati.
The 44-year-old Bronx native has been part of the organization for years. His playing career was derailed by injuries before he ever reached the majors, but he carved out a long coaching path after that. He first joined Cleveland in 2017 and started with the Arizona League Indians as a pitching coach.
From there, Torres moved through the system step by step: Lake County in 2018, Lynchburg in 2019, then a role as the club’s minor league pitching coordinator through 2021. That progression eventually led him to the big-league staff as an assistant pitching coach.
Cleveland’s reputation for developing pitching talent has been built on that kind of pipeline, with Willis at the center of it. Torres is just the latest name to branch out from that tree. As Justin Lada noted, Brian Sweeney with the Royals, Matt Blake with the Yankees, and Ruben Niebla with the Padres are other former Cleveland staffers now serving as MLB pitching coaches.
Former Cleveland staffers who are now MLB pitching coaches
Joe Torres (Reds)
Brian Sweeney (Royals)
Matt Blake (Yankees)
Ruben Niebla (Padres)
The Guardians’ pitching results backed up that reputation again this season. They posted the eighth-best ERA in the majors at 3.77, and since Torres became an assistant in 2022, Cleveland has ranked fourth in baseball with a 3.63 ERA.
For now, the Guardians have not announced a replacement.
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