For 11 years and 10 Minor League seasons, Bryan Torres played 510 games and chased his big-league dreams all over the country and he even ventured into Mexico and his native Puerto Rico while playing in Independent Leagues and on Winter Ball Circuits.

Seven years into his career, when he had grown frustrated by spending five years in rookie ball with the Brewers and the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 Minor League season, Torres thought about calling it quits – only to be talked out of it by friends and family.

When the MLB call he’s waited more than a decade for finally came this week – one that was accompanied with tears from mother, Triple-A manager, even a few Minor League teammates and plenty from Bryan – Mother Nature had the gall to make Torres wait another day with his debut delayed by rain.

On Saturday, the 28-year-old Torres finally got a chance to show Major League Baseball and all the baseball world what he had to offer, and he certainly did not disappoint in his debut. Not only did he register his first hit on a single to right field, but he capped the perfect afternoon with a ninth-inning homer that garnered him a curtain call from a makeshift “Tarps Off” crew as the Cardinals throttled the Reds 8-1 at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park.

“I’m dreaming alive because there’s not many words to describe this moment,” Torres told Cardinals.TV after Game 1 of the day/night doubleheader. “If I can tell you something it’s that none of this could have been possible without God. I’m a true believer – and I’m not a home guy – but I’m really, really sure that God was with me today.”

Bryan Torres earned his way to the big leagues with a .307 Minor League average

Torres, who had 2,019 plate appearances in the Minor Leagues alone and hundreds more in the two years of Independent League ball he played, became the first Cardinals played to have two hits, a homer and a walk in his MLB debut since at least 1901. Records before that date are fuzzy, but there was nothing fuzzy about Oliver Marmol’s praise for the older rookie.

“Man, that was awesome and a lot of fun to watch because that man has waited a long time to get his shot,” said Marmol, whose club improved to 16-8 on the road this season and 6-2 against rival National League Central teams. “You talk about being resilient and even before the game you could tell that he was locked in and having a good time. That was a lot of fun.”

A day after his 24th birthday, Jordan Walker hit his 14th home run of the season and drove in three runs. Victor Scott notched the fifth three-hit game of his MLB career and Ivan Herrera (2 for 3, two walks, two runs, one 1 RBI) and Alec Burleson (2 for 4, one walk, one RBI) contributed multi-hit games.

Andre Pallante (5-4, 3.76 ERA) allowed just two hits and one runs across six innings while striking out three. In fact, Cardinals’ pitchers did not allow a hit over the final seven innings of the game in the club’s largest margin of victory for the season.

On this day, however, the star of the show was Torres, who came up through the Minor Leagues as a 5-foot-7, 165-pound catcher and infielder, but got the start on Saturday in left field.

“Our guys are having a good time and (Torres) fits right in because he plays the game the right way and he plays it hard,” Marmol said. “He’s going to be pesky at the plate and take his walks. So, having him at the bottom of the lineup makes a lot of sense. But watching him play today at this level was cool.”

Torres worked a six-pitch plate appearance and walked his first time up in the big leagues. In the fourth inning, he hit an 85.5 mph cutter from Chris Paddack into right-center for his first MLB hit. The Cardinals scrambled in the dugout to get the ball to trainer Chris Conroy, who will use his calligraphy skills to adorn the baseball with the day’s date, the score and the pitcher whom Torres singled off for his first hit.

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In the seventh inning, after Walker drilled a pitch the other way for a two-run homer that made it 5-1, Torres flirted with extra bases before Cincinnati’s Blake Dunn ran down his drive right in front of the right field wall.

No one was catching the ball Torres hit in the ninth inning when blasted a 2-1 pitch some 377 feet and over the wall in right field. When the ball cleared the wall, his mother, brother and other family members jumped for joy and danced in the aisles. The blonde-haired Torres smiled broadly as he received congratulatory high fives and hugs from his new Cardinals’ teammates in the dugout.

“This moment is for life, you know,” said Torres, who was seemingly still stunned at the magical moments he experienced in his first MLB game after 11 years of waiting. “This is something that I will never forget.”

In 36 gamers with Triple-A Memphis this season, Torres slashed .336/.454/.477/.931 with more walks (29) than strikeouts (25). He added 10 doubles, a triple, two home runs and 16 RBI.

In 2025, Torres hit .328 with a .441 on-base percentage after walking 70 times and striking out just 57 times. Over his 10-year Minor League career, Torres is a .307 hitter with nearly as many walks (254) as strikeouts (257). Also, Torres was named MVP of the Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League in 2024 after finishing the regular season with a .299 average, 22 runs scored and 13 stolen bases.

On Saturday, he was just happy that his mother flew in from Puerto Rico and got to see an MLB debut a long time in the making.

“It’s just really emotional because since I was a young kid, my mom lost all her weekends to bring me to the (baseball) stadium and the park to practice and play,” Torres said to Cardinals.TV. “She changed all the things (in her life) to give this to me and my brother. I’m really thankful to God because I have a mom like that.” 

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