Torii Hunter Jr. hits first AAA bomb

Many of us kept tabs on Torii Hunter Jr. while he was playing both baseball and football at Notre Dame. Now the 25-year-old is one step away from the big leagues and has hit his first AAA home run with the Salt Lake Bees.

The Bees are the Los Angeles Angels Triple-A affiliate.

Torii Hunter Jr. is one of three sons of 9-time consecutive Gold Glove winner, and Twins fan favorite Torii Hunter. Dad is proud.

Hunter Sr. actually has a history with the Salt Lake club. Formerly the Buzz, the Pacific Coast League team was affiliated with the Twins from 1994 to 2000. Hunter Sr. racked up 22 homers with the Twins AAA team.

Another famous player for the Buzz who crossed paths with Torii was a guy by the name of David Ortiz. Papi hit 30 home runs for the AAA Buzz in 1999. That’s all I will say about that.

Taking a closer look at Torii Hunter Jr.’s stat line, he’s off to a slow start in AAA, but he’s just getting his feet wet. After COVID-19 took away the minor league season last year, Hunter Jr. got the call up to AAA, leaving the Trash Pandas and Madison, Ala. behind.

In 5 games with the Bees, Hunter Jr. has had 16 AB, is batting .125, with 2 H, 2 RBI, 1 HR, 2 BB, and 7 K. He plays all over the outfield or has been the designated hitter.

Overall for his career in the minors, Hunter Jr. has a .248 batting average and 2 home runs.

Many will be keeping a close eye on this kid as Dad cheers him on.