Atlanta Braves Sign Veteran Pitcher Alex Torres…Yes, The “Hat” Guy

On Wednesday evening, the Atlanta Braves announced they had signed left-handed pitcher Alex Torres to a minor league contract and an invite to the Braves 2016 Spring Training.  The 28-year-old has a good shot at making the Opening Day roster with a bullpen spot.

You may have heard the name…or seen the photos.  Yes, Torres is the guy with the famous protective hat.  The one that looks like an oversized mushroom and extremely goofy.

Torres’s reason for wearing this protective gear comes from an incident during the 2013 season when Torres was with the Rays. His former teammate Alex Cobb was hit with a liner back up the middle in the head.  Cobb laid motionless on the ground and held his head while trainers attended to him. Cobb was forced to leave the game on a stretcher and eventually missed two months of baseball.

Torres then actually entered the game directly after that incident and earned the win, but the scary sight of Cobb on the ground stuck with Torres.

“I don’t care how I look, I care about the protection,” Torres told ESPN last season.  “It might be a while before we see more pitchers using it, but the cap feels good, and I hope to see people join me next season and the cap refined further.”

Pinwrest, a subsidiary of 4Licensing Crop., produces the isoBLOX padding that makes the caps.

The Braves will be Torres’s fourth MLB team in his short career.  He’s played for the Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres and New York Mets.

He’s had a decent four year career posting a .268 career ERA within 154.1 innings pitched.

Torres will get every shot to make the roster for the Braves, but it all will determine if he can throw more strikes then he has recently.

With the Braves current bullpen status, Torres has a great shot at making the team in 2016.