Phillies sign former Yankee Ronald Torreyes to a minor-league deal

Per NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury, the Phillies have signed infielder Ronald Torreyes to a minor-league deal with an invite to Spring Training. The team also officially announced the signing of catcher Christian Bethancourt to a minor-league contract with a big league camp invite.

Torreyes, 27, played in just seven games in the majors last year with the Minnesota Twins. He spent the bulk of 2019 with the Twins Triple-A affiliate, the Rochester Red Wings, slashing .256/.289/.406 with 11 home runs and 42 runs batted in.

The Venezuelan native also played under Joe Girardi from 2016 to 2017. Torreyes’ most successful season came in 2017 under the Phillies new skipper. While primarily used as a utility man off the bench, Torreyes had a .292 batting average and a 0.7 fWAR in 336 plate appearances in 2017.

He will compete for a spot on the bench in Spring Training with Bethancourt, infielder T.J. Rivera, infielder Josh Harrison, infielder Phil Gosselin, center fielder Mikie Mahtook and center fielder Matt Szczur.

Torreyes primarily played second base throughout his professional career, but can also play third base and shortstop. He was also sparingly used as an outfielder in both the minor leagues and major leagues.

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