This story was excerpted from Jason Beck¡¯s Tigers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris received several questions about the team¡¯s future and the farm system when he talked last Tuesday after dealing Jack Flaherty, Andrew Chafin and Mark Canha at the Deadline. But one question near the end stood out.
What about Spencer Torkelson?
¡°He is still a part of our future,¡± Harris said. ¡°We have a lot of faith in Tork. He has work to do in Triple-A to make a compelling case to come back here and demonstrate that he can be our first baseman of the future. But we have all the faith in Tork.¡±
It¡¯s not only a fair question, but an interesting one. Two months have passed since the Tigers optioned a slumping Torkelson to Triple-A Toledo. Canha had been getting a lot of starts at first base before injuries shifted him to left field and DH. Gio Urshela then took the bulk of starts at first, but he¡¯s a more natural third baseman. Now Bligh Madris, primarily an outfielder, is Detroit¡¯s regular first baseman.
The Tigers were linked in trade rumors to a few prospects who could fit at first base, including Baltimore¡¯s Coby Mayo. And the most prominent prospect the Tigers acquired, Dodgers catching prospect Thayron Liranzo, could end up at first if he can¡¯t stick behind the plate defensively. But largely, the Tigers¡¯ first-base situation looks the same now as it did before the Trade Deadline.
One key difference: Torkelson is showing signs of figuring things out.
It¡¯s not just the raw numbers, though they certainly help. Torkelson batted 7-for-23 with three doubles, two home runs, seven RBIs and five walks last week at Indianapolis, the Pirates¡¯ top affiliate. He¡¯s batting .326 (15-for-46) with five homers and 17 RBIs over the last two weeks.
More important for the Tigers is how he¡¯s getting to this production.
¡°Tork has made some progress,¡± Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said, ¡°and I think some of the subtle changes are starting to show up in the game. Obviously you look at the top-line numbers: He¡¯s hit for some more power, he¡¯s hit the ball harder, the swing-and-miss is still there, the strikeout rate¡¯s still high. I actually saw him in person not too long ago and got to check in with him. He¡¯s in great spirits. He knows what he¡¯s working on.
¡°He knows he¡¯s got some work to do before he impacts this roster again. But step by step, we¡¯re seeing some encouraging signs that he¡¯s got his swing under control and that some of the subtle tweaks that he¡¯s made are carrying over into his takes, his swings and certainly his production in Triple-A when he hits the ball.¡±
Torkelson was batting just .178 against fastballs before he was sent down, according to Statcast. He¡¯s batting .233 against four-seam fastballs and .379 against two-seamers in Triple-A, including .261 and .333 since July 15. He¡¯s hitting .291 (7-for-24) off pitches 95 miles per hour and harder.
While the numbers have picked up lately, the swing behind them has been a process for Torkelson. He talked a few weeks ago about the trial-and-error effort to find a new approach that works for him, honed from hours of drill work with Hens hitting coach Mike Hessman and Tigers instructors, then taking it into games.
¡°My feel, my thought four years ago, that doesn¡¯t work for me anymore,¡± Torkelson said. ¡°So it¡¯s just constantly evolving that approach. Thoughts that I had just last year weren¡¯t really getting the results that I wanted. So it was just experimenting, seeing what works, seeing what doesn¡¯t work and really trying to redefine and get back to myself.
¡°I think it was a little easier to come down here and actually experiment with things. You don¡¯t go up to a big league at-bat working on something. I refuse to do that. But I feel like I can do that sometimes down here.¡±
At the time, he felt upbeat about what he was working on. The results are catching up. Nobody is ready to say whether that will land him back in Detroit before season¡¯s end, but it¡¯s a start to the conversation.
¡°We like what he¡¯s doing,¡± Hinch said. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the next six to eight weeks look like for him, but I know he¡¯s putting some building blocks together that are noteworthy.¡±