Around this time of the year, you will see plenty of movement on the managers and coaches front as they seek better opportunities around the league. As one of the best teams in baseball, the Cleveland Guardians often lose important members of their coaching staff, as other organizations are in a position to offer them a promotion or a higher salary.
Assistant pitching coach Joe Torres is the latest name to leave the organization. Team insider Zack Meisel, who covers the Guardians for The Athletic, reported the news.
“Joe Torres, the Guardians’ assistant pitching coach, has taken the head pitching coach job with Terry Francona’s Cincinnati Reds,” Meisel posted.
Joe Torres, the Guardians’ assistant pitching coach, has taken the head pitching coach job with Terry Francona’s Cincinnati Reds.
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) November 4, 2026
After a very successful stint as the Guardians’ assistant pitching coach under Carl Willis (who will be returning for 2027) since 2022, Torres will now fly solo with Francona, a Guardians legend and current Reds’ skipper.
The 44-year-old Bronx native initially joined the Guardians in 2017 after a pitching career ruined by injuries. He never made it to the big leagues as a hurler, but accumulated plenty of experience in the minor leagues and would later secure a successful career in coaching.
When Torres joined the Guardians in 2017, he initially worked with the Arizona League Indians as a pitching coach. He then held similar roles for the Lake County Captains in 2018 and the Lynchburg Hillcats in 2019. After that campaign, Cleveland named Torres their minor league pitching coordinator until 2021. That’s when his journey as an assistant pitching coach in the majors began.
The Guardians are known for their excellent work with hurlers, and it all starts with Willis. The veteran coach has had several understudies, and Torres is one of the most recent names to come up from the organizational pipeline of pitching minds. Brian Sweeney (Royals), Matt Blake (Yankees), and Ruben Niebla (Padres) are other names who have been trained in Cleveland, per Justin Lada.
Former Cleveland staffers who are now MLB pitching coaches
Joe Torres (Reds)
Brian Sweeney (Royals)
Matt Blake (Yankees)
Ruben Niebla (Padres)— Justin L. (jlbaseball on bluesky) (@JL_Baseball) November 4, 2026
The Guardians finished with the eighth-best ERA in the majors this season at 3.77. Since 2022, when Torres took over as an assistant pitching coach, Cleveland has had the fourth-best ERA in baseball at 3.63.
He will certainly be missed by the Guardians. The organization has yet to name a replacement.
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