After a slow start that turned promising, Spencer Torkelson is struggling once again at the plate. While he is one of the leaders in RBI’s, he’s also tops among strikeouts. His slash line has fallen to .223/.304/.350/.654 (through Thursday) and is just marginally better than the numbers he put up last year. All are considered to be below average.
During the Tigers’ recent 6-game losing streak, he had just 2 hits in 6 games.
Now that Tork has put in more time at the MLB level, a recent study was done that gauged the performance of #1 draft picks after 650 plate appearances. They were ranked according to OPS. Spencer came in #30 out of 32 players.
It has been widely speculated that Torkelson was brought up from Toledo much too soon last year by the former regime desperate to show some progress. This could have very well impacted his ability to learn and thrive at the MLB level, potentially setting him back.
It is noted that few of the top draft picks excel in their first – and possibly even second – year. But at what point should we be concerned about Torkelson’s hitting? Especially since we are approaching the halfway mark of the season soon?
What do you think?
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He has shown real progress, if we are looking at these same numbers next year at this time, then it’s time to evaluate. .
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Maybe he was rushed, but we’re past the expiration date on the excuse. I have not given up hope, but with 13 homers in 654 plate appearances, hoping is starting to get old.
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Rushed or not, he has had well over 600 MLKB at-bats. That is long enough to learn and adjust. The question has gone from will he be a star or just an average player to will he make it long term .
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He’s a bust, I’ve never seen a supposed good hitter miss so many center cut fast balls. On top of the hitting woes, other than occasionally scooping an errant Baez throw in the dirt, he’s a subpar defender. Can’t catch a foul pop up to save his life.
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He really exemplifies the team. We project our hopes onto this guy and think we see all these improvements around the edges, but the numbers keep slapping us in the face.
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Have defended tork remembering other tigers players who had rough rookie season like Jason Thompson. Yet Jason lite it up second season. Tork has to start showing some improvement.
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To me it’s not just the bat, it’s his mental aproach to the game and I dont like his body language. The fact that in the off season he didn’ want to train with the new coaches says it all to me.
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Torkelson is not progressing offensively at the rate one would expect from a number one overall pick. The Tigers may eventually move on from him. The key will be to trading him before his trade value drops to zero.
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I was hoping for a young Paul Goldschmidt and we may have gotten a slimmed down version of Steve Bilko. Hope I’m wrong but we should have seen more progress at the plate by now. If Tork is going to make it at first base he’s going to have to hit 25 homeruns and bat at least 260 otherwise he can’t be justified.
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Hey, Steve Bilko is not so bad! Steve had a career WAR of 4.9 and Tork stands at -1.4 WAR. Those who say Tork earns his keep on scoops should consult the fielding metrics which say he is closer to Dick Stuart than Paul Goldschmidt in that area.
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Maybe his scooping ability will get him a job at Baskin-Robbins some day.
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Send him back to the minors for training he originally missed for as long as it takes to determine if he is a major leaguer, or not. Several others on the team can play first base while he is being post groomed.
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Ideally the young man shouldn’t be hitting cleanup this early in his career. Thinking back to when Castleonos broke into the lineup. He wasnt an instant hit either but got the opportunity to learn from the vets hitting above him on the lineup
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Ted Williams said something about usually getting just one good pitch to hit in an at bat-don’t miss it. I wonder if this philosophy about working the pitch count is causing Tork to take to many good pitches. You wouldn’t think it would be a physical problem since Tork was one of the best hitters to come out of college in quite awhile.
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I voted to give him time. Unlike the Yankees, whose offense goes in the tank every time Judge gets hurt, the Tigers can lose their top 3 with no real difference in team offense. He has no one around him that hits and while hitting is contagious, none of the Tigers have the hitting disease. 🙂
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Tork could not hit at Toledo, so why is he expected to hit at Detroit ?’ He hit .229 at Toledo in 2022 and he hit .238 at Toledo in 2021.
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If he fail it’s on AA for rushing him up before he was ready & the lack of any team developmental skills in the minors at the time. If he’s still in this situation at the end of the season then time to consider moving on.
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