Spencer Torkelson is on the board. One of the most-hyped rookies in Major League Baseball this season, Torkelson broke camp with the Tigers and debuted Friday. He went 0 for 10 with seven strikeouts through his first four games, but in his first at-bat Tuesday against the Red Sox, he doubled for his first MLB hit.
It barely got in there, too. Take a look:
Hey, the proverbial monkey is off his back now. He can breathe easier.
Torkelson was the first overall pick in the 2020 MLB draft out of Arizona State. Obviously, we know 2020 was a totally disjointed baseball season, but he did get 17 games in with ASU (he hit .340/.598/.780). Last season, he had stops with High-A (31 games), Double-A (50 games) and Triple-A (40 games). Torkelson -- ranked as MLB's No. 8 prospect entering this spring -- hit a combined .267/.383/.552 with 29 doubles, 30 homers and 91 RBI in 530 plate appearances. In seven games in the Arizona Fall League, he was 9 for 20 (.450) with two doubles while walking more times than he struck out.
The upside is a feared, All-Star, middle-order power bat. Every tool is there. The very early struggles weren't too surprising. It's a tough transition to the majors and he hardly got any minor-league seasoning. He's only 22 years old.
We'll file this one in the "first of many" category, as the Tigers' tweet above noted. The best guess is he'll be a lot more known for the longball and that the first MLB homer isn't far behind.
