34: Mexican League MVP Nick Torres | Playing Time, Late Recruiting & What Baseball Parents Get Wrong

Show Notes

What if your son isn't getting playing time because he needs to get better? And what if his college baseball opportunities don't come until the spring of his senior year?

2025 Mexican Baseball League MVP Nick Torres joins Bobby Minor on the Chasing Baseball Dreams Podcast to share his journey from an overlooked high school player to a fourth-round MLB Draft pick, professional baseball in Mexico, and an MVP season that earned him another opportunity with the New York Yankees organization.

Nick's junior year of high school, he barely played and was used only as a pitcher. His senior year, he won conference Player of the Year. He didn't receive his offer from Cal Poly until late April of his senior year.

After more than a decade in professional baseball, Nick has plenty to say about what young players need to develop and what parents should be paying attention to.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why Nick wishes he'd played multiple sports longer
• How he went from barely playing as a junior to conference Player of the Year as a senior
• Why his college recruiting process came down to the final weeks of his senior year
• What parents should consider before leaving a team over playing time
• Why hitting approach and the mental game can separate players at higher levels
• How parents can help their sons handle slumps without adding more pressure
• Why comparing your son to other players can hurt his development
• What Nick learned from being released twice, playing in Mexico, and eventually winning league MVP
• The characteristics Nick believes make a player somebody coaches want on their team

If you're raising a young baseball player and wondering whether he's on the right team, developing fast enough, or falling behind other kids his age, this conversation is worth your time.

🎙️ Host: Bobby Minor | Chasing Baseball Dreams Podcast

⚾ Guest: Nick Torres | 2025 Liga Mexicana de Béisbol MVP

📱 Follow Nick on Instagram: @n_torres93

#ChasingBaseballDreams #BaseballParents #TravelBaseball #NickTorres #YouthBaseball #CollegeBaseball

What is Chasing Baseball Dreams?

You're spending thousands a year on travel baseball. A better team. A bigger showcase. More lessons. A higher ranking. And you still have no way to know if any of it is actually working.

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That's not an accident. That's the machine.

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Chasing Baseball Dreams is the only baseball parent podcast hosted by someone with no financial stake in where your money goes. I don't run a travel team. I don't sell lessons. I don't coach for an org. I have no reason to steer you in the wrong direction. I'm Bobby Minor... former Division 1 player, 35+ years coaching select baseball and high school, former travel organization director, over 1,000 college recruiting assessments, and a college baseball dad who almost lost 2 sons to this game for 2 very different reasons, with one currently playing college baseball.

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Every episode, I sit down with former Major League players, college coaches, scouts, and baseball dads who've lived through the same grind you're in right now. People who've been inside this industry long enough to tell you the truth about how it actually works.

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Here's what you can expect.

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Real conversations about what actually matters at each age from 8U to signing day. The questions you should be asking before you commit to a team, a coach, or a showcase. The stuff the industry doesn't want you to hear, from people who've been inside it long enough to say it out loud. And the truth about recruiting, development, and where your money is actually going.

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Nick Torres: if your son is not playing because he's not good enough. Well, that doesn't mean that you should leave that team. Maybe your son should get better. but you want to just find a place in which the best players are gonna have the opportunity to play.

Bobby Minor: And welcome back to Chasing Baseball Dreams. My guest today is Nick Torres, a professional outfielder. I've been practicing this all morning. I don't want to mess it up. He's a professional outfielder for the Algodoneros del Union Laguna in Mexico's Liga Mexicana de Baseball. How's that, Nick?

Nick Torres: That was perfect. Very nice.

Bobby Minor: All right, so Nick played college baseball at Cal Poly before being selected in the fourth round of the twenty fourteen MLB draft by the San Diego Padres. Spent more than a decade playing professional baseball. And in 2025, he was named the Mexican Baseball League MVP after hitting 347 with 27 bombs and 79 ribbies. And that performance helped him earn another opportunity in affiliated affiliated baseball here in the States with the Yankees organization earlier this year, where he was playing double-A before going back to Mexico. We'll get into that, but Nick, man, welcome to the Chasing Baseball Dreams podcast.

Nick Torres: Thank you very much, Bobby. I appreciate it.

Bobby Minor: obviously you played in in Mexico for several years. So what was it like winning league MVP? I just wanna jump right into that.

Nick Torres: Oof, man, it was awesome. It was unlike anything that I've really experienced in my career. you know, over the course of that season, I could kind of see it progressing. And obviously, many of the guys that are playing in Mexico are trying to get back to the States. So I was watching guys get signed left and right and watching them progress through the minor leagues over the course of that twenty twenty five season. And here nobody I'm I just keep playing and I was like, why is nobody taking a chance on me? Obviously, I was very thankful for it because had I left earlier, I wouldn't have built up the resume over the course of that whole season and then been named MVP. But yeah, it was really special for me because, I felt like I had been progressing every year. I felt as though I had been the best player in the league for years, just like was kind of missing a couple more numbers, a couple more homers to really solidify that. And I was on a plane. with my wife and my daughter traveling when they announced it and we were on Wi-Fi watching it live. And it was a really special moment for me and poetic in the sense that there was not this grand celebration. We kind of just my wife and I celebrated in silence on this plane with a bunch of people that have no clue what's going on. And I was just tearing up, you know, watching the announcement stuff. It was really cool.

Bobby Minor: You didn't want to stand up and say, hey, I'm an MVP right here.

Nick Torres: No, you know what? I it it honestly felt a lot more special and poetic. Like I said, just enjoying it with my wife only. It wasn't about any of that stuff. It was just look what we were able to accomplish.

Bobby Minor: So that's amazing and and congratulations. There's some there's some pretty good ball players down in Mexico if people aren't aware. so talk about your experience playing in Mexico and maybe the difference between how the players are treated by you know by the fans in Mexico versus here in the States because you know, we're talking before before we started recording, you know, back in the nineties, like I played in Mexico probably a dozen times. We would take teams of former college players and we would go down and play basically like series of exhibition matches. And I know that on many of our trips, even though, I mean, like we weren't anything close to being professional baseball players, certainly not Major League Baseball players, they treated us like we were like MLB players, man. I mean, just, you know, the the way that they would accommodate us and, you know, wanting to take pictures and autographs and all of that. So I can only imagine what it's like for somebody like you. So kind of talk talk talk for a minute about the how the fans down there treat you as a player.

Nick Torres: It's completely different, and obviously what's interesting is that you're playing in Mexico. So a lot of the quality of life type things are not the same. You know, like a spread in double A with the Yankees is phenomenal, but a pregame spread in Mexico, not necessarily the same. That being said, you are at the MLB equival equivalent in Mexico, you know. So like you are in the big leagues there, so you get treated like a big leaguer. Whereas, obviously in the States that's a little different. So you get treated very well. I just went to a promotional event with my team this past weekend and it was complete madness. You know, get the culture is very different. You're gonna get swarmed everywhere you go. The city that I play in has about eight hundred thousand people in it. So it's big. It's big, but it's also small enough that anywhere I go, I'm having to stop and take pictures and stuff. But yeah, the fans are just very the whole culture is very into the sports, very passionate. So that kind of translates both in the stadium and outside the stadium. You know, one of the first things I noticed when I got to Mexico was just how different it was the environment playing, right? Like you start playing the game and there's drums banging and there's music playing the whole time, and you have to, it takes some getting used to. And what's funny is that, you know, I'm sure we'll talk about it, but going back to double A this year, when the game starts and then it's Crickets, it's quiet. Everybody's focused on the game. That was very strange for me.

Bobby Minor: Yeah, definitely, down there, when you're playing well, everybody loves you. When you're not playing well, they make sure to let you know.

Nick Torres: yeah. Yeah. Luckily for me, I speak enough Spanish, but whenever I'm really hearing it from somebody, I just kinda tell myself, I don't know what they're saying. And I'm it's easier for me to block it out.

Bobby Minor: All right, so in August I was on a podcast down in Austin, Texas on the subject. Mike Villardo, great guy, and he he was dying to ask me an eastbound and down question because I told him that I'd played in Mexico. Now I didn't really have a good eastbound and down story for him. I didn't play with a a Kenny Powers type guy or anything. So give us and you can you can this is you can clean it up, make it PG rated if you need to, but but give us your best eastbound and down story from your experience in Mexico.

Nick Torres: man. There for one, there's too many to count. And the league has gotten cleaner over time. But I'll tell you one from a few years ago, which is hilarious, is that we went to play in Cancun. And, you know, Cancun, you're playing your five, 10 minutes from the beach. And so it's a big thing. Everybody goes to the beach. They have like a full beach stand in Mexico. The games are so late, especially because in places where it's really hot, they'll push the game to eight o'clock. So you have a full day before you even go to the field. The bus is generally around four o'clock, sometimes even five. So it's normal to go to the beach and have lunch, maybe even have a couple drinks, something like that. And there was a couple teammates that I had that knew they were not playing that day. I will leave them their names out of this. And they knew they weren't playing that day. And so they went and had a little too much to drink at the beach. And there's a place called Isla Mujeris. In Cancun. So you actually take a ferry to go off the coast to a tiny island right off the coast. And it started pouring rain in the afternoon while they were out there on the island. And so everybody naturally on the island swarms to the ferries. So you have this whole island worth of people at the ferry station, and two of my teammates were just a little too intoxicated and they got in trouble and got arrested and spent the night in like an open prison cell. on the island off the coast of Cancun. So they actually there was like some issues with that and it turned out to be all okay in the end. You know, they

Bobby Minor: Yeah.

Nick Torres: they spent the night there and I should probably kind of leave it at that. But yeah, that was a crazy story.

Bobby Minor: No doubt, no doubt. Well good thing you weren't a part of that. So

Nick Torres: Yeah.

Bobby Minor: all right, so one more Mexican league question, and then I want to jump in and talk

Nick Torres: Yeah.

Bobby Minor: a little bit more about your experience growing up playing baseball. Who's the best player in Mexico that you've either either played with or against that people in the States have probably never heard of?

Nick Torres: man, that is a really good question. There's a handful of them. a few that come to mind. There's a guy, the shortstop for the Diablos, his name is Harper Gamboa, and really, really good defensively. puts together quality at bats constantly. There's, I mean, he's one name. There's guys on my team, a guy named Edgar Conejo Robles that is just really grindy. Finds ways to slap the ball through holes. just finds ways to impact the game, even though when you look at them, you don't necessarily see, hey, this guy looks like a stud. The the league in Mexico is filled with those types of dudes. And, you know, I'm sure that that's something we'll touch on later, but especially even watching the World Series right now and seeing the two styles that are are existing in the in these games. That is the style that is played in Mexico. And so you have players that don't necessarily stand out metrics wise and all that kind of stuff, but they just really know how to play the game well and maximize what ability they personally have.

Bobby Minor: So all right Nick, take me back to when you were ten, eleven, twelve years old. What did baseball look like for you back then and how involved were your parents in helping you get to where you wanted to go?

Nick Torres: this is the stuff I'm really excited to talk about, especially given I know where you're your audience is. I had two, my parents are still together. My parents are awesome. just to give a brief background, like on my dad was raised by two parents that immigrated from Mexico. And so my dad's dad, I never actually met him. He left and went back to Mexico, but didn't necessarily care to have my dad and his brother. go and accomplish much. And my dad was very opposite of that, wanted to go and accomplish a lot and just wanted more in life. And so he kind of instilled that mentality in me and was just the most awesome present father I could have asked for. When I was growing up playing sports, you know, he would come home from a long day of work in construction and no question. I was like, dad, can we go to the park? Can we go hit? And we would every single night, almost without fail, was taking me never an excuse, never like, dude, I'm tired. was always willing to give that time that I don't think he had growing up. so I'm very grateful for I actually get chills now even talking about that. I'm very grateful for that. but the area that I grew up in in Southern California, so you know you have Long Beach is like a suburb of Los Angeles and the city I grew up in, Lakewood, is actually like a suburb of Long Beach. and still a ton of people. So the area was very baseball centric. if you wanted to be cool in my area area, you play baseball. is even at the youth level. So yeah, every all the little leagues, all the pony leagues, everything was already kind of filtering into high schools. Like all the high school coaches knew what were the good 12 to 14 year olds coming in at the time and all that stuff. Everybody already had their place. and I was very fortunate to play for some of the best coaches at that, you know, 12 to 14 range. And, one good example was just going to that tryout. The coach had no clue who I was. This was the best youth coach in the area or the league. And I go and he was at the trial or the sign up for the trial. And I just walked up and shook my shook his hand and introduced myself. And I heard later that from that very moment he was like, I want that guy on my team. And it was for no other reason that I was a 12 year old that walked up and looked him in the eye and shook his hand and introduced myself. So, you know. Because of little things like that, I was fortunate fortunate to be with the right coaches kind of through my whole youth career. Call it if you want to call it a career.

Bobby Minor: Yeah. No, I think that's I think I think that's a fair way to describe it. So is that something that your dad instilled in you? going up, shaking somebody's hand, looking them in the eye, or is that something that was just natural for you?

Nick Torres: I would say it's little bit of both. again, I it was those other kind of coaches that I had been around, in addition to my father, that had instilled those things. You know, the the high school coach, which I would love to tell you about that I had in high school, had been giving me lessons since I was about eight or nine. So he did lessons and then also coached guys that would eventually come to his high school and stuff. but he was very hard-nosed and The high school that I played at was run like a military camp. So I think that part of that came with working with him.

Bobby Minor: Okay. so how were so did you only play baseball growing up, did or did you play multiple sports? And if you did play multiple sports, then when did you just focus on baseball?

Nick Torres: I played soccer growing up. That was like my two sports. I played s baseball in the summer and soccer in the off season. my dad played soccer at Sack State. So that was kind of my two things. And it wasn't until I would say my freshman year of high school that I started to focus solely on baseball. And, you know, looking back, I I really wish that I had played soccer longer or just played other sports for even longer. You know, I th that's kind of a belief I have now that it's the longer you're able to do it, that you probably should do it. That being said, it was good for me personally to focus on just baseball. And I felt like that was where I could create a future for myself. I played freshman football that first year because my same high school coach encouraged me to. He thought it would toughen me up. And so I did it. I played along and I played my freshman year of football. And I was like, all right, I'm good on that. That's all I needed out of that. And then I just focused on baseball after that.

Bobby Minor: Yeah, I used to tell my son, I was like, dude, you're not a football player. You know, he was five si five six, one twenty when when he was a freshman, so I'm like, Yeah,

Nick Torres: Right.

Bobby Minor: I don't need I don't need you getting out there, breaking your collarbone, and then, you know, y you're missing out on on baseball stuff. how do you think playing soccer up until high school, how do you think that helped you be a better baseball player?

Nick Torres: I think it helped tremendously. I didn't start really putting size on as a baseball player until my senior year of high school, not for a lack of effort. I just couldn't really do it. But I think I had a really good athletic base to build off of. I ran track in middle school and all that was really we would whenever we would do runs at school, I was always the first one. It I beat everybody in long distance running. So I think that that gave me a really good foundation and Physically, even to this day, I'm able to I have a very high capacity to run for long distances because of that time as a soccer player. so yeah, I don't I don't know that it necessarily did much more for me, other than it gave me a really good base of athleticism. In addition to just, you know, baseball at the end of the day, you it's not like you're running long distances. It's really just a lot of rotation and explosion. So I think having the mix of something else was really good for me.

Bobby Minor: Yeah. Yeah, that's good stuff. And it it's funny because I had Dustin Bedroya on my podcast a couple months ago and and he was talking about the importance of playing multiple sports up up until at least when you get to high school. Okay, for that very reason it just it just makes you more athletic. And so many people want to push back in the comments and like, no, you know, that's good for back then and all that, but you can't do that now. But I mean here I mean you're saying the same thing. That's one of the most common themes, I think that out of everybody that I've that I've had on my podcast, you know, for Major leaguers is the importance of playing multiple sports as long as you can just to create more athleticism. So, all right, so you ended up playing at Cal Poly, okay? Eventually became a fourth-round pick. Take me like take me through your recruiting process when you were in high school. Like, how did how did Cal Poly become the right fit for you? Looking back, what do you think your parents got right during that process, you know, as you were going through it?

Nick Torres: So high school is really interesting for me because coming out of that pony age group, I was one of the better players in the area, but I s I struggled to stay healthy in my all all through high school. and actually my junior year of high school, I was a pitcher only and barely played at all. Like I was if that's yes, if that's a sign of yep.

Bobby Minor: Wait, wait, wait. Pause, pause. Your junior year you were a PO and you barely played? Okay. All right.

Nick Torres: Yes. Correct. Correct. So if that's any sign of encouragement to anybody out there that is now going into their senior year, here we are in, almost November, and they don't have the offers or whatever that they want. Yeah, I I just couldn't stay healthy. My first couple of years, I ha I broke my left ankle, my freshman year, broke my right foot, my sophomore year, and it just wasn't healing. And so here I go into junior year and I kind of was just shelved, like they forgot about me. And Yeah, I think I maybe pitched 20 innings, but couldn't find the zone. And we went into senior year. And you they have Legion ball in the summer and stuff. And they were just kind of letting the pitchers hit. And I was smoking balls. And so they said, okay, we're going let you hit seventh in these Legion games. By the time senior year started, they said, Hey, you're going to hit three hole and you're never going to come out of the three hole. And then I went into my senior year. And, you know, we're talking one of the most competitive high school. Conferences in the country in CIF Southern section. this is this is not a league where you have kids hitting five hundred. if you're hitting three fifty, you're the top in the league. And I ended up going out and was named the conference player of the year after not playing a single inning on defense my junior year of high school. So yeah.

Bobby Minor: That is wild. So okay, so what did the what did the recruiting process look like for you because of that? And when did Cal Poly come into the mix and when did you know that that's where where you were gonna go?

Nick Torres: Right. So I had been going to camps and playing, you know, pitching and doing defense and stuff. And they were like, Hey, we really like you at a couple of these camps I went to, but they're like, We just don't have the money for your class. We've already signed all of those guys. And so I had actually told Cypr I'd gone to visit some JUCOs in the area, which is still good baseball in Southern California, but I had told the coach at Cyprus, I told the coach at Cyprus Junior College, I guess, Hey, here I am the player of the the league and one of the best leagues in All of high school baseball in Southern California. I'm I'll be here next year. Had good grades, everything. I just didn't have the offers. And so it wasn't until April of late April, April 20th or something like that, of my senior year of high school, that Cal Pauly actually came to watch a teammate of mine. So I did play travel ball, I guess you would call it travel ball. It was like college prep ball at the time. And it was funny, that's where I was playing more of my defensive reps was for this team that was actually better than my high school. But I played for them and I had a teammate that played for a rival high school. They came to watch him when we played against each other and they saw me and said, we want this guy as well. It was just by chance. So I if I'm not mistaken, they offered me pretty quickly, but it was a very small percentage. It was not anything that my parents could have afforded at the time. They came down, they walked, they were playing against Long Beach State, which is only a few minutes from my house. The coach and the the head coach and the assistant coach came and watched me. practice at my high school and then they ended up increasing the percentage. And that was it it all happened within a matter of maybe two weeks. It was like nobody's heard of me. And then two weeks later, boom, I'm going to Cal Poly.

Bobby Minor: That's wild. That's wild. And you mentioned Long Beach State. I I've actually had TJ Bruce, the current head coach at Long Beach State, he's been on my podcast. Great guy, great guy, who also coached at TCU before going back to Long Beach State where he played back in college.

Nick Torres: Yeah.

Bobby Minor: So okay, so you were committed were you committed to Cyprus, the JUCO? Right, right. Yeah.

Nick Torres: It was like a handshake commitment. I don't even I yeah. Yeah.

Bobby Minor: national letter of intent and everything. It's more for show. but they do have to submit if there's any money involved, they do have to submit an official offer to you. but

Nick Torres: Gotcha.

Bobby Minor: and you mentioned so California JUCO baseball in the they they play Cal for people that don't understand, like you have the NCJAA, which is the n or NJC N A A, the National Junior College Athletic Association that everybody plays in except for California. California. They have their own JUCO association, the 3C2A, California Community College Athletic Association. They have some

Nick Torres: Sure.

Bobby Minor: great baseball there. My son, who's playing at a D2 school now out in West Texas, actually went out to California this past year and played in Ridgecrest at Saracoso Community College in the Inland Empire Conference. And they made the regional playoffs for the first time, but they played Orange Coast, who had

Nick Torres: Yeah.

Bobby Minor: Alan Chu, Sin Shin Chu Sin Shu Chu's. son batting leadoff for them and then they had to play Santa Anna who ended up beating them and Santa Ana ended up going on to win the whole thing. But yeah, do not junior college baseball in California is definitely not less than. So okay. So I was gonna say you've hit it every level. let's say starting senior year and beyond, you've hit it every level. You know, last year, you know, in 2025, you know, you hit 347 with 27 bombs in Mexico. When you look back then at your development as a young hitter, and it's crazy that you were a PO in your junior year, what made the biggest difference in your development and you becoming the hitter that you became and that you are? And what do you see young players spending time? I'm working on that really isn't helping them as much as they might think.

Nick Torres: Well, what's interesting, Bobby, is that I think back on my career and especially mechanically, I really didn't have any clue what I was doing until I had been released by the Rangers, which was then my at that time my second release from Pro Bowl and was going to Mexico. It was the first time I actually sat down and dug into how does a baseball swing work? How should it work? What am I doing? How can I improve? Prior to that, I really just I had a very basic understanding. It was like, Point A to point B, just chopped down to the baseball, couldn't hit the ball the other way. And I had somehow just by sheer willpower progressed to college and then got drafted and then moved up the levels quickly. So, I mean, by god's divine hand, I moved up, but I think a lot of it too was just I again, I had really good coaches. And I think what separated me at every level was the mindset. you know, mindset and approach. And I think. To answer your the second part of your question, that is the biggest separator for sure at the pro level, because everybody's talented. But I think not enough players at the younger level are separating themselves by those means early on, you know. and obviously you have to put in the physical work, the physical reps come with being a younger player for sure. But if you were to take two guys that have the same ability at that time and one of them has just simply say they had a parent or a coach. that was pouring into them the mentality aspects of the game, they're going to be far, far better off than that player that didn't have that.

Bobby Minor: That's really good and it's it's funny, I don't know, but it's only been like a week ago. I I posted a carousel on my Instagram and I was talking about my son Julian. Like I said, he's twenty one, about to turn twenty-two. he's a red shirt junior playing at Sol Ross State. But when he was f his fourteen U summer Here in Texas, he batted 200 his entire summer. dude, ten hits all ten singles. It wasn't even just he hit ten bombs, ten singles all summer. He was very almost ready to give up because he was like super hard worker, you know, that's never been an issue. And just by, you know, God's divine hand, as you say it, I I got I came across a guy named Herman Duran. Herman played played at TCU, was drafted by the Rangers, played you know, played for a minute, you know, in the Rangers organization and in the major leagues. And they got connected. He watched him hit a couple of times and he said, Man, he goes, There's nothing wrong with his swing. He goes, I'm gonna teach him how to think like a major league hitter. And they spent most of their time working on mindset and approach. His 15U summer playing against some very elite level competition, he batted almost four fifty. And so

Nick Torres: Mm.

Bobby Minor: I wrote an ebook with Herman, Three Mindset and Approach Mistakes Hitters Must Avoid. And so with that post last week, I said, Hey, comment mindset and I'll send it to you free. Dude, I've had probably two thousand people download that ebook just in the past

Nick Torres: Wow.

Bobby Minor: week because I it is that important. It's you see all these kids, and I'm not knocking there's a lot of great hitting instructors out there. They will teach your kid how to have a beautiful swing. They they're not teaching them how to hit and there's a huge difference. You've probably seen how many guys have you seen in Mexico that their swing looks like you're opening up a broken lawn chair but they just rake? A lot of guys, right? Yeah. I mean

Nick Torres: Hundred percent. Ton of them.

Bobby Minor: you Yeah, it it's just crazy. So all right, so it's kinda we'll we'll kinda I guess I'll I'll piggyback on that. So like you're a fourth round draft pick, so obviously like you had talent. Nobody takes you in the fourth round if they don't they don't see something. But so once you got into professional baseball, like what did you find out that you really needed to work on or get better at that nobody had really prepared you for

Nick Torres: Well, again, in that same lane is that I remember showing up for my first spring training and immediately realizing that everybody in this room thinks very differently than what I was raised with. and as I've already told you, I had a great foundation. My parents taught me well. But also there's just a certain mentality that the 1% of thinkers, I would say there's certain processes or habits that they have that had not necessarily been instilled in me to that point. I had, you know, grit. And toughness and work ethic, all those things drilled into me. But then there's also the mental skill side of things. And that was where I really picked up on a lot of things. but then also, like, you know, it's funny, I you get to Pro Bowl and you realize there's still plenty of guys that were coaching, especially at that time, we're talking, you know, 2014, that really just didn't know what they're talking about. You know? and you're still at the end of the day having to figure it out for yourself. So it comes down to especially. Thank goodness now we live in a world where there's no sort of information. If you want it bad enough, you can go find it and figure it out. But yeah, I would say the biggest differentiator was still, it was again, it was just another level of mindset. Okay, the mindset separates some guys and brings them to pro level, but then there's another gear that guys have. And the guys that simply will not be denied, that simply will, outwork the hardest worker. The guys that handle fit that was real. I think getting to Pro Bowl was the first time. I realized how crucial it was to handle failure. Because even prior in college high school, you play what, two games a week, college, you're playing three, four games a week. And then you get to Pro Bowl and you're playing every single day. And so if you cannot face and stomach the failure day in and day out, the game will eat you up and spit you out. And so I think that was the biggest thing that I realized pretty quickly on.

Bobby Minor: See, I know there's a parent out there that's listening, that's really that's taking notes, that's paying attention, but it's just funny the things that people that have been there and done that, like you, the things that you say, like, you know, learn how to handle failure, play multiple s multiple sports, that parents will push back on That you know what I mean? It's just to me it's crazy. and it's and it's I had somebody on one of my Pedroya videos, somebody commented the other day and you know, I said, Look, dude, no offense, but I think I'm gonna listen to the guy that was, you know, MLB rookie of the year and MVP before I listen to you. And parents, you gotta be careful about who you listen to because A, not everybody has your has you or your son's best interest in mind, and there are a lot of people out there that sound very convincing that have no idea what they're talking about. So, you know, you got to be very, very careful. So, all right, so every parent watching, I'm sure, has seen their son go through a stretch where he couldn't buy a hit. Okay? You play professionally for over a decade. So when you're struggling at the plate, like like what does your process look like for getting back on track? And then what's the worst thing, what's the worst thing that somebody can say to a hitter who who's already pressing?

Nick Torres: Hmm, great question. Okay, so I'll start with my process, right? the biggest difference we'll start here is like going into 2025 when I was named MVP, I made a big shift in my process. You know, I'd always been really big on video. you know, I think it's super important to have video, even if that's not really your thing, you still have to have video of what does it look like when you're playing well, right? When you're hitting well, what does that look like so you can have that template? But what I really increased was the time in my notes. And it's super simple. Just on the notes app on my phone, I would sit down at my locker, good game or bad game, and I would just kind of download everything that I felt. Where was where was I at physically? Where was I at mentally? And I don't I I'm talking as detailed as I could get it, you know, so that I wasn't guessing because part of the issue I ran into was I would look back at video and Okay, I can see what I'm doing here, but what was I thinking? Because now when I try and repeat it, it looks like this, it look it looks all different, So the thing that has always helped me, even aside from that, get out of slumps was just relying on the process. And I know that sounds so cliche, but it's cliche because it's what works, and that is sticking to a consistent routine. And you hear guys. That have played for a long time talk about that, which is I started to put my value in how well I could perform my routine every day rather than on the outcome of the game. if I can focus on excelling at the things that I do every single day, the outcome is going to take care of itself. So I might be in a stretch where I'm over 10, over 20, but if I trust my process and I continue to just stay consistent with it, then the outcomes will eventually come back around. It's just the nature of the game.

Bobby Minor: that's really, really good. Yeah, go ahead and now the second part. What's the worst thing what's the worst thing that a parent could say to their son if he's already pressing?

Nick Torres: I think anything that's going to add more pressure, whatever that is, it probably comes in a lot of different forms, a lot of different phrases. Anything that's going to make him press even more. So, anything that's going to make him want to swing more. I think whether you're a mature hitter, whether you're immature hitter, it's very normal to try and hit your way out of a slump. And I would say this. I think the e sometimes you just have to slow the game down. And so going up and Maybe putting the focus on just having a quality at bat, that sounds easier for a a mature baseball, an older guy to, go up and perform. It's a little bit harder for maybe a high schooler to, hey, dude, only forget the result, go up and just focus on having a quality at bat. But I think taking that approach and that mentality will get the the player's mind off of the result. And again, more on the process, even just the process within the at bat, Obviously there's a process that leads up to the game, but just the process within the at bat and trusting that, I think a lot of the times what happens, especially when we start press we we start to press because we're overly focused on the results. So the more that we can get off of results-based thinking, the better off that we will be as players.

Bobby Minor: you made it all the way to Triple A in in here in the States with the Padres and then at Round Rock with the Rangers. And then your career took you to Mexico. Okay. So walk me through that transition. Like like how did you decide that's what was next? And what kept you playing when I guess the path that you had dreamt of to the big leagues, it wasn't going the way that you'd probably originally pictured.

Nick Torres: Well, you know what, Bobby, I skipped over this a little bit, after the PO season in high school, the player of the year for that conference was on my team. And I, so I at this point had no credibility. And I told him, hey, I'm gonna take that award from you next year. And then I went on to be the conference player of the year. And then here we are later on. I'm drafted. And, you know, I was drafted in the fourth round. All the guys that were drafted after me started off higher at higher levels than I did. So I felt like I was being slided again in the same way. Not, you know, I was a lot. less mature than I am now, I can look back and with thankfulness for it. But at the time I was like, what's going on here? My first full season in the minor leagues, I was named the Padres minor league player of the year. Played in the fall league. And then my second full season, I was, you know, I finished in triple A and had done well in triple A. And I was thinking, man, I'm going to be in the big leagues, you know, in my third full season here. And then I repeated double A. And now I'm kind of going backwards and stuff. And so it all that to say that I had always had a chip on my shoulder a little bit and I felt like I knew how good I was and I was being undervalued. so when I when I was released by the Padres, and it wasn't until they the words left the the player development guy's mouth that they said, Hey, you're released that I even believed what was happening. You know, and so my first inclination was that I was gonna be signed by somebody, and when I wasn't, I went to independent ball. And just really at that point, the dream of making it to the big leagues was still very much alive. That was what I wanted. I would not be denied. and so when I was signed by the Rangers and went to AAA, I was like, great, here we go again. And I was only with them for the last about two months of season. And I it was the worst that I've played in pretty much my whole career. and so when all that ended, I really at that time I was only, you know, maybe 26. And Have dealt with a lot of these things now, the the common struggles of baseball players when they go to leave the sport, questions of identity. Who am I without this? I've done this for 20 years and all that stuff. At this point now, I've done this for 30 years. But at the time I had no idea how to handle that and wasn't prepared to face that question yet. And so I think whether this was the case or not, maybe it was an excuse, but I was like, you know what, I just need to figure something out. And in the time being, it makes the most sense for me to continue playing. I didn't I didn't want to go back to indie ball, but I had started being contacted by these teams in Mexico, didn't know anything about it, but it seemed exciting. I thought it would be a good opportunity because I had never really had much association with the Mexican culture, even though my dad is full Mexican and stuff. So I thought it would be a cool thing for me to go experience. And I figured it would probably be a one, maybe two season thing. And especially after once COVID hit in twenty twenty, I had played one season at Mexico at that time. I figured that was it. And then, you know, here we are. I've had almost a full second career in Mexico. But it really just all that to say, it really just kind of happened. It wasn't you know, that I wanted to play until I was thirty-five and or I'm playing it even now. It's not like I'm playing with the goal to make it to the big leagues. You know, I'm just playing because I have a great opportunity to provide for my family in this way. It allows me a lot of time home in the off season. I'm paid well. I'm very well taken care of with my team. And it just progressed to become that over time. So here we are.

Bobby Minor: Okay. I have multiple questions, but one just popped into my head. So you were League MVP in 2025. Did that did that put an extra layer of pressure on you this past year?

Nick Torres: I would say yes. And again, I would say I'm more mature now. And so there's only so much you can do. You have to block certain things out, you know. But of course, I would be lying to you if I said that there wasn't some factor of that there. did it play a part in, you know, the outcome? I would like to think not. But yeah, there was definitely expectations going to back to affiliated ball. Like Here I am, I've dominated this league. Plenty of guys have come out of this league and then gone back to the States and had success. So, what do I look like if I don't? That being said, that's it's a very different style of baseball. I think part of the reason I've had so much success in Mexico is because I've really learned to master that style. And the game in b in the United States is far, far different now, especially since the last time, I was in affiliated ball was 2018. And then I show up this year and everybody's wearing bras with with, you know. Heart monitors on him and stuff like that. And so everybody's focus on exit Velo and all that. It was just very, it was a very different experience than what I had had the first time in the minor league. So I think those are two very independent things. But when I went back to Mexico at the end of the season this year, I definitely felt a ton of pressure to perform. And especially the we had made playoffs in all six all five years that I had been with my team. And we were, when I showed up, We were four games out of playoffs. And so it was really my goal and in my role on the team is to lead. And so I was like, I we have to make sure that nothing else. We have to make playoffs. We cannot miss the playoffs. And so I definitely felt a ton of pressure coming in to perform at an even higher level than I had the year before. And was actually, I mean, thank God, was able to do that. And we made playoffs. We got bounced in the first round. But yeah, there was definitely a ton of that.

Bobby Minor: Okay. Yeah, I was I was about to ask you, so did you make the playoffs? So okay, there's a ha semi happy ending to that story even though it was early exit. So okay,

Nick Torres: Yeah.

Bobby Minor: take take me back to when you're in the Padres organization because it sounded like everything was going well. So what was it that changed with the Padres? Like ultimately why did they why did they release you and why did they, you know, yeah, I mean, I guess that's the question.

Nick Torres: Mm-hmm. I don't have a a ton of clarity on it still, even at this point, although I'm very at peace with it. yeah, my first year, first full season, like obviously I would done I'll say this. When I had got drafted, about a week or two after I got drafted, the GM got fired. So that definitely plays a part in it. And you know, obviously AJ Prelor came in, brought in all of his own guys to put into the front office. So I never really played for the front office that even drafted me. And that being said, I had to really overperform every year, I think, to keep my job. And that first year I overperformed. Second year, I overperformed again. And the thing was after my second full season, I had finished in triple A and they really wanted me to go play in the Dominican for Winter Bowl. And at the time I had some personal stuff going on that I I mind you, I'd also played for almost 12 months my first full season. Because I went into instructs, then spring training, then the season, then the instructs at the end of the season, then they asked me to go to the fall league. Then there was a camp of their top, top prospects that they held it at Pecco Park in December. So I had literally been on the field for twelve months. So after twenty sixteen, this was my second full season. I said, no, I don't want to go play winter ball. And I think that they just didn't like that. they I think that they thought if I was really serious about it, that I would take that opportunity. And looking back, I definitely should have taken it. Cause if even if I had not done well, it still would have showed the initiative. But I think if I'm being completely honest, I was scared to some degree that I would go there and fail and it would hurt me. And so instead I s I chose to stay on the s the sidelines.

Bobby Minor: Okay. Well, it and for the parents out there watching, you need to understand that like once you get drafted, it's not it's not as simple as, okay, you get drafted and then you just kind of work your way up through the system and then you know your son makes his big league debut and and everything's golden. I I personally know guys, much like you Nick, that I mean, had great minor league careers, made it to the triple A level. There's a change in management or leadership within the organization. and you know you were the guy for the previous leadership. Now the new leadership has their guys and they'll release you for

Nick Torres: I cleaned.

Bobby Minor: no reason other than you're not one of their guys. It doesn't matter how good you're playing or you'd played up to that point. And so I mean it's a business at the end of the day.

Nick Torres: Yeah. Yeah. And it's and it's so much of it is just right place, right time, as you're mentioning. And so that's again, it's it's silly to put put too much stock into certain things. Like at the end of the day, the only thing you can control is how hard you're gonna work to get there. And a lot of that is in the hands of the people that run the organization. So yeah, it's just like luck. You can obviously create your better opportunities by working hard and being producing, but at the end of the day. It's not in your hands.

Bobby Minor: So you've kind of you kind of you mentioned kind of feeling slided at different points throughout your journey, you know, in high school and then even you know professionally. How did you use that as motivation versus feeling sorry for yourself, making excuses because I see a lot of parents, you know, a lot of parents, because parents, one of the worst things that you can do is compare your your son and his journey to somebody else's journey, but you see another kid getting opportunities and having success. And instead of celebrating that, you kind of, you know, you drink the hater aid and now you're hating on that kid and it it you start having this pity party about, you know, why isn't this happening for my son? And you know, my son's better than him and all of these things. So how can a parent out there learn from your experience and turn, turn these setbacks, if you will, into opportunities to just really kind of fuel the fire and become better, both as a player and as a person.

Nick Torres: man, I have so much to say to that, Bobby. first off, if I can be super blunt, I think that everything that mentality you just described is so lame. I think lame is just man, to be To be putting your focus and your mental effort into some but some other kid, another, 14 year old or something like that, because he is performing better than your son or daughter, I just think is really sad. and that is one of and it it doesn't serve you. At the end of the day, man, baseball only lasts so long and you have to go be an adult and participate in the real world and Cultivating that mindset. I'm actually, I'm like really toning it down here. Cultivating that mindset is so pathetic, to be honest, you know, because it's not going to serve your son in the real world. You're just now teaching him to impose that same mentality onto any challenge that he comes up against as an adult. You know, and so again, this is why sport, this is why sports is so important because it's supposed to be the vehicle in which you. grow your character, you know. at the end of the day, we brought this up the earlier, which is handling failure. And the best at whatever they do have failed more than anybody else at that given thing. You know, they have just learned to take the meat out of whatever that failure was and apply it and then get rid of the rest. You know, at the end of the day, this is one of the things I talk to guys about is there's no such thing as good or bad information. There's just information. So every time you fail, okay, your teammate is playing more than you. Okay, what is that telling you? Do you where do you need to improve if you want to be on the field more? If you want to get more playing time more at bats. Where is it that you need to improve and how can I take whatever information I'm getting from this situation and apply it so that I can improve? yeah, I think that's That's a really big part of it. I'll say this too. As I had mentioned when I showed up to spring training with the Padres and their different mentality. That was the first time that I really heard somebody talk about victimhood versus ownership. And that mentality that was enormous to me because growing up, I had been around a lot of people that had this victimhood mentality, in which you want to blame the situation on other people, but again, that doesn't serve you. And everybody wants to be elite, right? Or at least they say they do. Now, whether or not they are willing to put in what it takes to be elite at whatever it is is a different story. People that are elite take extreme ownership. I the Padres made us all read the book Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink.

Bobby Minor: Yeah.

Nick Torres: And so learning like, hey, everything about my environment is to some degree within my control. And even if it's not within my control, what with it what is within my control is my response to it. and so I think that having that mentality is perhaps it's easier said than done, but my goodness, having the inverse will not serve you. You know, it's only gonna make you bitter and bringing up excuses for this or that is not gonna actually serve you moving forward.

Bobby Minor: That's good. And again, I think that could be a whole episode by itself. you only briefly mentioned playing travel ball, like later in your in your high school career. What like so did you like did you play travel ball growing up? Like was that a part of the equation? like what did that look like?

Nick Torres: Yeah, I was there was a group of good players in my, I said, it's the suburb and then the smaller suburb and then the neighborhood. And I was one of the better players in my neighborhood, but I was younger than everybody. And so a lot I was overlooked in that sense too. And same thing. These are like guys that I had played in Little League and stuff with that were a couple of years older than me, but I was like the really good younger player on their team. And they had all started a travel ball team together. And I went and tried out. And if I'm not mistaken, I either didn't make it or I made it and barely saw the field, And so we, for the majority of my time when I was really younger, I would say pre-high school, just hopped around. Not I didn't put a lot of stock into the travel ball stuff. I was more so really into the local baseball and was less concerned with going out to travel to this place and that place. It wasn't until I got to high school. When I really started I stuck to one team and hey, this is my team. And the reason I really liked it was because it was merit-based. You know, they didn't care. And I would say if I had to give not that you asked this, but if I had to give any advice to anybody, it would be find a place that is willing to play just the best players. You know, and I get that that's probably hard easier said than done. But if you're put it this way, if your son is not playing because he's not good enough. Well, that doesn't mean that you should leave that team. Maybe your son should get better. but you want to just find a place in which the best players are gonna have the opportunity to play. And that's what I had with that team finally when I got to high school.

Bobby Minor: you mentioned being the younger the younger kid playing with with guys that were a couple of years older than you. And one of the big hot button topics these days are are parents reclassifying their kids when they're in middle school. So now you have, you know, kids that are fourteen and a half playing thirteen U baseball. and they look like dudes because that is a crucial kind of almost like a crossroads for a lot of players when they're 13 and 14. And so it's very misleading. How beneficial do you think it was for you in your development to be the younger guy playing up with older guys versus being the the much older guy playing with younger guys?

Nick Torres: Well, I think that this applies again to life, right? Like you never want to be the smartest guy in the room that you're in because that means that you're stagnating, right? So you always want to be surrounded by people that are going to be better than you, that will elevate your level or force you to elevate your level. And while don't get me wrong, of course, I wish I could go back and have been one year bigger. And, every year of my development at every stage. But I can also look back and say that was the reason that I was always better than the rest of the guys at my age was because I was constantly playing with guys that were older than me. And, you know, I mean, I graduated high school when I was 17 and was drafted when I was 20 years old. And I think that it never that never really stopped. I was always having to keep up with the guys that were a little bit ahead of me. They might have been bigger and stronger. That means I have to be better in other areas, or that means I have to put in more work than they do in order to match their level of play. So I think that it's actually again, it depends what you want to get out of this. I understand if you want your kid to be the big donkey that's just dominating everybody, sure. But if you really want long term development, again, it's the same thing I said at the beginning. Then he shouldn't be the best player in the room. There should be other guys that are better than him. that are going to force him to elevate his level of play as well.

Bobby Minor: I wanna ask you about after winning the V P in twenty twenty five, having the opportunity to come back to affiliated ball here in the States and you played double A with the Yankees this year. and we'll talk about that. But before we talk about that, I want to talk about what happened before your MVP season and where you were mentally because if I'm not mistaken, you were kind of at the point to where you weren't even sure if you were going to continue to play baseball and you were kind of looking hoping for maybe a mediocre season, you know, so you can kind of point to that as a reason for okay, you know what, now maybe it's now the time to walk away. And so I would say your twenty twenty five season was probably the exact opposite of what you're looking for. But kinda walk us through walk us through, you know, what was going on before the twenty twenty five season and, you know, where you were at mentally

Nick Torres: It's funny, Bobby. You did your homework. Cause I

Bobby Minor: Yeah.

Nick Torres: I know I've said that before, but I don't even remember where I shared that. But yeah, you know, I as I said, I it's not like I I'll say this. The whole time I was in Mexico, I hadn't fully confronted the fact that I still was wanting to make it to the big leagues. And I was just thinking, like, man, if I could get one more opportunity, I could show everybody. so there was some of that that was driving me. But at the end of the day, as I've already said, it was more so I have a great opportunity here with this team. I'm very well taken care of. I had gotten married in 2023, my wife got pregnant right away. And so we're building a family. The the team knows my family, they're paying me well, all this stuff, and I'm playing well. And it was really at what point does it make sense to walk away from this? Now I have kids that are coming into the picture. This is gonna just get harder and harder with every passing season. As they grow. And so yeah, frankly, I was. I was, you know what, hoping subconsciously that I would go out and I just wouldn't have it anymore. And I would have a mediocre season. And that was my sign to, you know, take the cleats off. And with every passing year, I just continue to get to get better and better. And so it just never to this point has made sense to take the cleats off. And, you know, I'm kind of in a better situation than I ever have been with this team. And Obviously in 2025, when I put it this way, I had a job lined up for after 2025. Like had talked to recruiters, had gone to visit with the company and everything. Like it was a done deal. And about a month before the season was over, I called him and said, Hey guys, sorry, I'm not gonna be making it because you know, it looks like I'm gonna win the MVP of this league. And my wife and I are both on the same page. We gotta see this through to wherever it leads.

Bobby Minor: Yeah. That's it's just it's it's funny how things work out. So I know we were talking before before this episode about life after baseball and and I know you know you wanna wanna go out there and kind of see what's out there outside of the baseball world. But dude, you just to me have so much to offer it just through your experience and your wisdom and everything. Have you not seriously considered coaching after you're done playing?

Nick Torres: I've seriously considered it. The the thing is, is that if I were to coach, say in Pro Bowl, well, then I'm just adopting the same schedule that I'm already on that I would be

Bobby Minor: Yeah.

Nick Torres: trying to get away from, right? You know, college is very I think you could probably, as you're saying, you know, based on the things that and you're not everybody tells me what you just told me, Bobby. But you know, I think where I would really fit best is college. It just is also A hard life and that you're every four or five years it could be you're having to uproot your the your family's lives and move elsewhere. And so I just I don't know if I'm I fully want to do that. That's part of the reason I started doing the online coaching and posting content and stuff because I want to be don't get me wrong, I still am passionate about sharing everything. we start having a conversation like this, and I could really get going. And I have so much that I like to share with guys and As I mentioned, I've been very b blessed to have some really phenomenal coaches throughout my career. And I want to be able to do that for guys and in an even better way than what I had. You know, if there's a way that I can shortcut that process for somebody, I really would like to do that. It's just in all the buckets that you fall into, whether it's youth and high school, that comes with its own challenges, college comes with its own challenges, Pro Bowl. So yeah.

Bobby Minor: You're in you're in your thirties, you go out and win league V P and suddenly the Yankees organization comes calling. You're getting that opportunity to come back to affiliated ball. So you mentioned changing your your before the 2025 season. So what changed for you what changed for you as a hitter that allowed you to keep getting better? And because like I've got parents watching that think that their son's baseball future is pretty much decided by the time he's 13 or 14, which obviously wasn't wasn't is not the case and it certainly wasn't your case. So so what changed, what allowed you to keep getting better?

Nick Torres: I think adopting for one a mentality that you're going to have to continue to adjust. Again, this is and especially I think it's particular in my case, right? Because it's less a case of, you know, I I'm not playing at the top, top level right now. Like I'm playing at a high level, but not at the big league level. My, I feel like, journey is more a testimony to just lasting or what would you call that? A just a lasting effect, being able to Stick to itiveness, whatever the word is, And I think that if you're gonna embody that, you have to adjust. And you can see the same thing with guys that like a Mike Trout. How different is the league now than when Mike Trout first came up to the big leagues?

Bobby Minor: Yeah, yeah.

Nick Torres: And we've we've heard him talk about it in interviews and stuff, and just like, hey, it used to be this, and now everybody's throwing a hundred and you gotta figure out a way to hit it and stuff. So yeah, I think just being willing to adjust. As the game adjusts, just since I've been in Mexico, for example, the game used to be a certain way there, and then they changed the rules, and now every team gets 18 imports per team. And now we're seeing the same stuff in Mexico. The Mech, Mexico looks like AAA nowadays, So with as long as you play, the game is going to progress. You have to be willing to progress with it if you want to survive. So I think that is big, one of the bit Been the biggest things. And that goes for both mechanics and mentality stuff. approach, just continuing to learn, having this again, adopting the mindset that I'm never a finished product. There's always something to be gained from each and every day. I can take one little nugget and again the cliche of being one percent better. I don't think about it in that cliche sense necessarily, but I'm always trying to just pick one little thing. I even block out my my seasons of life. As what did I get out of this season? So, the 2027 season that's gonna roll around, there's gonna be some major life lesson that I needed to get out of that. What did I get out of that? Okay, the offseason now. What did I get out of? You know what I mean? So just always trying to pick up something. And our good friend, or my good friend, I know that you talked to Shane Green. a thing that I like that he says is, you know, it's like we're all just making a soup. And All the while all the while you're pulling different recipes in. And how can I take these different recipes to add something to what I can call my own recipe, my own soup?

Bobby Minor: Shane. you mentioned triple A when you're talking about Mexico. I I was gonna ask you kind of what so for people again watching, so the level that you're playing in Mexico right now, would you com would you compare it to triple A here in the States? High double, you like high level double A? Like what would you what would you really compare it to?

Nick Torres: I think the tough thing is that what makes Mexico so different is that there's a huge variety of teams. So because it's all based on the owners and how much money each owner has, which gives them the ability to go out and get the best players, you have

Bobby Minor: Like the Dodgers.

Nick Torres: right. Yeah, no kidding. You have a big disparity between the top and the bottom teams. It's better as every team has had access to, you know, all 18 imports per team. the league has leveled off a little bit more. That being said, you'll have teams that are triple A level, and then you'll have teams that are maybe I A level.

Bobby Minor: Okay.

Nick Torres: And I would say most teams, it's, it's not like there's a lot of middle teams. You kind of get like teams towards the top or teams towards the bottom. You know,

Bobby Minor: Yeah.

Nick Torres: so for example, in my con in my division, you see pretty much the same five teams every year that just whoop up on everybody else and then there's like a fight for the last spot every year.

Bobby Minor: Okay. did you ever face Trevor Bauer in Mexico? How did you

Nick Torres: I did. I did. I faced him. I'm in a couple of his blogs actually. Or his blogs. Yeah. I faced him in no,

Bobby Minor: Ha ha I guess that's not good that's not good for you then.

Nick Torres: is he he showed me some love. I gave him we faced each other in the All Star game a couple years ago, and I hit a rocket back up the middle and he put me in his vlog for that. And then yeah, we had a couple of other face offs in which he I got him one time, he got me overall I'm two for four off Trev with an RBI.

Bobby Minor: Okay, that's pretty pretty I mean from a hitter standpoint,

Nick Torres: Yeah. I'll take that.

Bobby Minor: five five hundred's good, but yeah, fifty fifty.

Nick Torres: Yeah.

Bobby Minor: Okay, here's here's a hot take. Should Trevor Bauer be pitching in the major leagues?

Nick Torres: Yes. Yes. I I I'm sure that there's a lot more to it that we

Bobby Minor: Right.

Nick Torres: the public don't know. I think that's a lot a lot of the keyboard warriors will go on and scream online, one way or the other, whether he should or shouldn't be. There's just there's other things that we just don't know that are going on behind the scenes, I'm sure. But yeah, of course it would be foolish if it wasn't about those things, whatever those unspoken, things that are going on. It would definitely be in the interest of somebody to go out and pay Trevor Bauer league minimum or free whatever to come and pitch because he's still one of the better pitchers in the world at this time, especially that are not in the major leagues. So I think it's a it would be a win win minus whatever publicity stuff comes with that,

Bobby Minor: Seems like he's toned that down a little bit too though. So

Nick Torres: Yeah.

Bobby Minor: all right. Growing up in Southern California, you're obviously drafted by the Padres, but who who is your favorite major league team when you're growing up as a kid? my god. Okay. How? How? Why?

Nick Torres: The New York Yankees. Yes. Yes. Because because Derek Jeter was, I thought, just like, you know, talk about if we were to talk about role models, obviously, as I mentioned, my dad was a a huge role model for me. But I think one of the this is gonna sound maybe it's probably very overlooked, but I will say one of the biggest advantages I had and why I turned out to be the person that I have. humbly is that I just picked the right role models. the guys that I modeled myself after were was a guy like Derek Jeter. And I wanted to embody that. And that's even still in on my team in Mexico. It's the way I try to lead now. I don't want to be talking every day. I don't want to be, leading a meeting every day. I would much rather just keep my mouth quiet, lead by example. When something needs to be said, it hits a little bit harder. and just do all the little things right. And again, to bring it back to the World Series and the games going on. It's like you heard Christian Yellow say that exact same thing the other night. the reason that we are good is because everybody's pulling on the same side of the rope. We do the little things right. Everybody's accountable to everybody. Nobody gets their feelings hurt. Those are all the kind of things that I've saw in Derek Jeter and that I wanted to embody as a player from the time I was, 10 years old growing up. That being said, I watched a lot of Yankee games and they, of course, at the time were just crushing everybody. So I'm sure I was partly a a bandwagoner as well. But yeah, that was that was my team. And so as you can imagine, when I got a call from them in 2025 saying, Hey, we're really interested in you. and you know, and after years had gone by in which I thought there was no shot that I would ever go back to the States, that was one of the few times where I had like emotional conversations with my I have a brother and then my parents. So talking to them and telling them, Hey, I'm I think I'm gonna get signed by the Yankees was just like it was cool. It was like hearing the tears on the other side of the phone was something very special and something I'll never forget.

Bobby Minor: That's amazing. Who do people say you look like?

Nick Torres: Mario Lopez. A C Slater. AC Slater. Yeah.

Bobby Minor: Okay, I could see that. I could see that. Okay. All right, last question, man, and this has been this has been so so good. So obviously you've been through the college recruiting process in high school, you played Division I baseball, bunch of years in the minor leagues, you played professional baseball in Mexico, and it seems like you've had to keep proving yourself kind of like every step of the way. If you could sit down right now with the dad of a twelve year old who thinks that he needs to do everything possible right now to give his son a chance of playing in college and hopefully professionally someday, what would you tell him to pay attention to and what would you tell him to quit worrying about?

Nick Torres: I would say for sure what to what to focus on would be cultivating all the same skills or all the same characteristics that will lead to success at any in any endeavor in life are the same ones that will lead to success within a baseball field. It's just a little more acute in that setting. You know what mean? so I don't think we need to overcomplicate this. It's really the guys that will stand out everywhere. And at the end of the day. You will get opportunities because you are talented, no question. But you will get just as many or more opportunities because you are that guy on every team that you play for that the team can just simply not do without. You know, and so I think that becoming that guy, and that is all the things that we've just discussed, which is doing the little things, that's having attention to detail, you know, being process oriented. Picking up your teammates, being a good teammate, being able to be coachable, but also being able to be accountable when you make mistakes, because you inevitably will. all of those things, hand learning how to handle failure, learning and part of that, which I think is very important for younger guys, is body language that comes with handling failure. You know what I mean? Like how much how mature does a player look that can be on the mound and the guy behind him makes an error and he turns around and picks him up. man, that stuff that alone, just as I said it towards the beginning, Bobby, with the handshake and that getting me onto the best team. you can be 0 for four in that game and you're pitching also, because that's how it is in high school, right? You're the stud. And you turn around and pick up a guy that just made a big error in the game behind you. I promise you that will get you signed much more Than whatever you did in the batter's box. And so I think that that is something that is completely overlooked. Focusing on that stuff in here, this is another one. Look, is I heard this recently, okay, what maybe within the last year. You need ego to start the journey, but you have to abandon the ego in order to finish out the race, in essence. Okay. So when you are younger, you don't have a lot of reps. So you're relying on this kind of false confidence or whatever. it's about like what can I prove to other people? I want them to see how good I am. And then the longer you play, by the time you're 33 and you're you're my age, it's no longer about anybody else. It's like, can I can I reach my potential? You know, did go home that night? Did I reach my potential today? It becomes not about anybody else, but just are you maximizing the ability and the gifts that you have to play this game? And are you doing what it takes to improve each and every day? I think emphasizing those things, making it less about anybody else and more about, man, am I doing what I need to get better? And that thus brings your focus to the process, right? Not on the results. All those kind of things, like everything that we've talked about in this conversation, are embodied in that same mentality, which is just focusing on the characteristics that are going to lead to success. I think that there is a recipe for success. And it's embodied by all of these things, and again, baseball is how many percentage of guys go to play college baseball? And then how many of those get drafted, and how many of those play in the big leagues? So at the end of the day, we have to get something more out of baseball than just the ability to hit a baseball, you know. this is I think the sport and any sport in really, but is the vehicle for how. A young kid will mature into a young man and that is far more important than, whatever he can do at his high school or his upcoming tournament this weekend.

Bobby Minor: Yeah, that's good. I I have it's I've been sitting on it for four years, but but the vision for a five one C three called five tools for life. You know, instead of focusing

Nick Torres: Mm.

Bobby Minor: on creating five tool players, let's create five tool people because again make them better husbands, fathers, you know, leaders, respect, integrity, sportsmanship, things like that. So really, really good. Nick, man, I I appreciate you more than you know. If people want to follow follow your journey on social media where c where where can they tag along?

Nick Torres: My Instagram is at N underscore Torres ninety three. But yeah, follow along.

Bobby Minor: Man and so I'm assuming twenty twenty seven you're gonna be back in Mexico?

Nick Torres: We'll be back in Mexico twenty twenty seven, ready to go again. Yep.

Bobby Minor: All right. Well, all right, Nick, man, really appreciate you, man. Good luck.

Nick Torres: Thank you very much, Bobby. It's been awesome talking to you.