Virginia Tech baseball has added its second commitment of the transfer portal cycle and its first pitcher, landing left-handed starter Chris Torres out of the University of South Carolina Upstate, he announced on his X account Monday afternoon.
Torres, who has one year of eligibility remaining, spent three seasons with the Spartans and established himself as one of the more dependable starters in the Big South.
He sits 91-93 with his fastball and tops at 95, pairing it with a changeup in the low-to-mid 80s and a slider in the 78-82 range. Over three seasons at USC Upstate, he made 32 starts, threw 158 innings and struck out 149 batters with a 5.01 ERA.
His best season came in 2025. During that season, he made 16 starts, tossed 81.1 innings, struck out 78 batters and went 8-4 with a 4.76 ERA, earning him Second Team All-Big South honors and Big South Starting Pitcher of the Week three times.
This past season as a junior, Torres went 5-4 with a 5.28 ERA across 76.2 innings with 71 strikeouts in 18 appearances. He capped his year with an NCAA Tournament start in the Tuscaloosa Regional against Alabama, where he tossed two scoreless innings with two walks and two strikeouts.
The fit makes sense for the Hokies, who are navigating a significant pitching overhaul this offseason. Virginia Tech lost Chase Swift, Madden Clement, Ben Weber and Preston Crowl to the transfer portal on the pitching side, and Brett Renfrow and likely Griffin Stieg figure to hear their names called in the MLB Draft.
What's left is a rotation that needs to be rebuilt. As things stand, Logan Eisenreich projects as the Friday starter, Ethan Grim is currently in line for the Saturday spot and the Sunday starter is still in question, but Torres could compete for that spot.
The depth problem goes beyond the projected rotation. Virginia Tech threw 484 innings in 2026, had 10 arms throw at least 22 innings, and only four of them are set to return. Torres, who logged 76.2 innings this past season alone, partially addresses that concern. He's a proven starter at the college level who eats innings and misses bats — exactly the profile John Szefc needs to add to a staff that has significant ground to cover before next spring.
The Hokies made the NCAA Tournament this past season for the first time in four years, earning a two seed in the Los Angeles Regional before going 0-2. Building a pitching staff capable of not just returning to the postseason but advancing out of a regional is the central task of this offseason. Torres is the first piece of that puzzle.
