This is the final article in a three-part series focusing on the 2021 Toledo Mud Hens. Part I looked back at what to remember about the return of pro baseball in Toledo. Part II examined if Riley Greene is ready for the major leagues.
Spencer Torkelson made a name for himself when he broke Barry Bonds’ freshman home run record at Arizona State University.
The Detroit Tigers’ No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft slugged 25 home runs as a first-year Sun Devil, more than doubling Bonds’ total (11).
Torkelson’s power was highly touted through the 2020 draft and was displayed in his first professional baseball season. The recently turned 22-year-old Torkelson slugged 30 home runs this summer while climbing three minor league affiliates, High-A West Michigan, Double-A Erie, and Triple-A Toledo.
He tied for eighth in home runs (30) amongst all minor leaguers.
“You got to sell out to that one approach that you have, and that's driving a fastball the other way, just to be able to pick up that off-speed, and then just reacting in,” Torkelson said, “because if you look it you'll catch yourself spinning some bad pitches in general. So just really selling out to my approach, and it's been working.”
Torkelson’s first month of professional baseball was a wake-up call.
In May with the High-A West Michigan Whitecaps, the corner infielder was 16-for-68 (.235) with 15 walks and five extra-base hits (three were home runs). Slumps are a given in baseball, and Torkelson didn’t let them weigh on him. He found ways to break out of rough patches.
Even when the hits didn’t come, his plate discipline didn’t falter as a result. Torkelson had 24 walks in 31 games at High-A, 30 walks in 50 games for Erie, and 23 walks in 40 games with the Mud Hens.
“We're constantly talking about things, going through at-bats, how they attacked him, was he over-aggressive early in the count,” Mud Hens hitting coach Jeff Branson said. “We'll always talk about controlling the strike zone. He has a very good strike zone awareness.”
He had a slow start to Triple-A, going through a 7-for-43 stretch (.163).
Although Torkelson might have not seen the results he wanted, five of his seven hits in his first two Triple-A series were for extra bases — two doubles, one triple, and one home run.
The No. 4 overall prospect, according to MLB.com, posted a .238 batting average, .350 on base percentage, .531 slugging, and a .881 on base plus slugging percentage at Toledo. He was also named the Tigers’ position player prospect of the year by MLB.com.
“I think I just got a little more mature as a hitter and know I'm not naïve to the situation, and I know what they're trying to do, but it doesn't get me off what I'm trying to think,” Torkelson said. “The adjustment I made in Triple-A was just maturing more as a hitter and being more a complete hitter.”
In September, he compiled a .276 BA, .373 OBP, and .621 slugging alongside eight home runs and 18 runs batted in. Twenty of his 35 hits went for extra bases.
“It's just a matter of him staying within himself, trusting himself,” Branson said. “The home runs have come, the hits will come. The extra-base hits will come without trying to do that. What we always talk about with him is effortless power vs. powerless effort. So sticking with his approach, committing to his approach, understanding his strengths, and committing to it.”
Torkelson is likely to need more time before his promotion to the big leagues.
2021 was his first season of professional baseball and the first time managing a full season workload. The top overall pick in 2020, he spent the coronavirus canceled minor league season in Toledo at the Tigers’ alternate site.
He wouldn’t be the first of the 2020 draft class to reach the majors — Garrett Crochet did so with the Chicago White Sox last summer — but it seems inevitable his debut will come some time next season.
Torkelson played in 121 games in his first minor league season with 431 at-bats. On Wednesday, it was announced he’ll play in the Arizona Fall League alongside fellow organizational prospects and Mud Hens teammates Riley Greene and Ryan Kreidler.
The fall league will provide Torkelson an opportunity to gain even more at-bats.
“It definitely is an adjustment, but I find it really fun,” he said. “In college, you're managing school and baseball. And it's still a little hard, but it's only 56 games plus the postseason, which isn't much. And then I think as a professional baseball player, I really take pride in taking care of myself, making sure I'm still working out, eating good, and just doing my job, because my job is completely being a baseball player.”
Facing his soon-to-be teammates at Detroit’s alternate site, it wasn’t until 2021 spring training when he received an invite to big league camp that he took the batter’s box against professional pitchers other than his own organization.
Torkelson slumped in his first spring training, going 1-for-20 with three walks and one base hit, before being optioned to the team’s mini-camp in Lakeland, Fla.
“Your power's gonna play. You're gonna hit so many home runs out there,” former Mud Hens manager Tom Prince recalled after a game this season. “That's where you're going to drive in runs. That's what his thing is going to be. He's got enormous power. It's just one of those things. It's going to play. It's just going to take a little time.”
Torkelson, who was drafted as a third baseman, split time at first and third in his stints with High-A and Double-A. Once he was promoted to Triple-A Toledo, he exclusively played first base.
“I mean, there’s no secret that the first baseman of the future is going to be Spencer Torkelson,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said to MLB Network last month. “He’s in Triple-A, hitting a homer about every other day, and he’s opening eyes. Eyes were quite honestly already open to him. But I don’t know when his arrival is going to be. The organization will be very smart about his development.”
Jonathan Schoop and Miguel Cabrera split time at first base this season. When Torkelson is deemed ready for the big leagues, Cabrera is likely to DH with Schoop sliding to second base.
“When Tork is ready then obviously it’ll be a better situation for us,” Tigers general manager Al Avila said in a press conference Tuesday. “Because the good thing about Schoop is he’s very versatile. He plays second, he could play short, he could play third. So it’ll be a plus for us when Torkelson’s ready.”
First Published October 7, 2021, 3:42 p.m.
