VANCOUVER - Paolo Tornaghi has been a Vancouver Whitecap for 14-plus months, but his stat line on the Vancouver Whitecaps web page makes you think that any training field sightings are simply an apparition.

Is the 26-year-old Italian a ghost? Does he really exist?

For 2014 and 2015, there are nothing but a string of zeros under the headings GP, GS, MIN, SHT, PKG, PKA, SV, W, L T. That’s games played, games, started, minutes, shutouts, etc.

Click on his Game Log and you see 58 consecutive notations as an Unused Sub including 14 from his 2013 campaign with the Chicago Fire. The guy just doesn’t play, although, to be fair, he has appeared in a couple of WFC2 games USL Pro this season.

But Tornaghi will make his inaugural first team start Wednesday in Edmonton where the Caps will play the first leg of their Amway Canadian championship semifinal against the NASL Eddies. Last season, he had to sit and watch as teenage Canadian Marco Carducci was the ‘keeper during the Amway games against Toronto.

“Paolo is a great teammate, he’s great guy in the locker room,” says Caps’ head coach Carl Robinson. “The boys love him. I love him to bits. He’ll get his chance on Wednesday.”

He said the six-foot-four, 185-pound Tornaghi, who is stuck behind ironman David Ousted, has spent some quality time in the gym and is physically stronger than when he first arrived in Vancouver.

Tornaghi isn’t the only guy who will be released from end-of-the-bench purgatory against the Eddies. Centre back Christian Dean, the Caps’ 2014 first-round draft pick, will get his first first-team minutes of 2015 and forgotten striker/winger Erik Hurtado will also play.

Hurtado, the five-goal scorer and 19-game starter in 2014, has played just 23 minutes over the last six MLS games and didn’t even make the 18-man game-day roster the last couple of matches.

The arrival of striker Octavio Rivero, the signing of veteran Robert Earnshaw and now the acquisition of winger Cristian Techera has pushed Hurtado, 24, down the depth chart. He has started just once in the Caps first 10 games, but says he’s trying not to let frustration creep into his thinking.

“All I want to do as a young player is learn and add it to my game,” he said after a spirited training session Monday. “Whether it’s on the field, or off the field, I’m watching and I’m learning.

“Whenever I get a chance to play I want to take advantage of it. I want to be able to use what I’ve learned.”

Despite his limited minutes this season, Hurtado insists he’s sharp and is ready to make an impact against an Edmonton squad hungry to pull an upset.

“I feel sharp in training every single day. I’m getting my touches, doing finishing after practice, possession. I feel very sharp right now.”

Robinson says he’s had several conversations with Hurtado, the fifth overall draft pick in 2013, trying to keep his spirits up.

“It is tough for Erik at the moment because he’s been on the fringe of the team and the squad. He (started) against Portland (in a 2-1 Caps’ win on March 28) and he’s come on a few times.