Santiago Torres was once a prized prospect in Cuba for Santiago in the Serie Nacional, but yesterday the second baseman decided to abandon the island in search of a better future in professional baseball. The colleague Francys Romero was the first to report the defection.
The 28-year-old infielder participated in Cuban National Series with Santiago, in addition he was also selected to reinforce other teams, such as Camagüey, with which he was the league’s runner-up in 2020.
Torres has been in several training camps for the Cuban team in preparation for international events and was present with the Antilleans in the Caribbean Cup that was held in Curaçao in 2021, the squad finished second in the tournament.
Otros tres jugadores con experiencia en Series Nacionales salieron de Cuba en los últimos días.
Dos de ellos integraron equipos Cuba en años recientes. https://t.co/EWqVoAItiB
— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) August 21, 2023
Torres debuted in the National Series in the 2014-2015 season and in 8 Serie Nacionales hit .318, with 29 home runs and 150 RBIs. In 364 games he had 363 hits and slashed an above average .418/.475/.893 during his tine in the league.
The last action the second baseman saw in Cuba was with Cafeteleros of the Liga Élite in which he hit .280 with a roundtripper, nine runs batted in and eight stolen bases in 125 ar-bats with the Cuban winter circuit squad.
Torres also saw action in a professional league for the first time in his life in 2021 with the Federales de Chiriquí of the Panamanian Winter League, but was released by the ballclub after not having a great performance at the plate.