Detroit Tigers Former First Overall Selection Needs Strong Finish to Season
The Detroit Tigers season may be over in terms of playoff hopes, but there are plenty of young players with reasons to finish the season out strong.
Jason Beck of MLB.com looked for the Tigers player that has the 'most to prove down the stretch' and decided on former first overall MLB draft selection Spencer Torkelson.
"[Detroit is] loaded with position prospects, but nobody else at first base. That can be corrected by moving another infielder to first or by swinging a trade," said Beck. "But [the Tigers'] path to contention looks a lot simpler with a productive Torkelson in the middle of the order."
Being the first overall selection in a draft comes with a lot of expectations, and that can be hard for some to live up to. If it had to be decided today, the first baseman would likely not have lived up to those expectations. Thankfully, he's still a young player with plenty of baseball ahead of him.
The Arizona State Sun Devils product flashed a lot of bat skill while in college. He hit 54 home runs over basically two and a half seasons while putting up a slashing line of .337/.463/.729.
He was taken first overall for a reason. That reason was hopes of quickly becoming a home run producer at the Major league level.
In his one season of minor league play, he hit 30 home runs with a .267/.383/.552. For a team that was in need of some extra punch in their lineup, they decided to call him up for his MLB debut fairly quickly.
Torkelson had his moments as a rookie, but they were few and far between. He was striking out a lot while drawing walks at an average rate.
Worst of all, he only hit eight home runs over 110 games.
He looked more like the plater they hoped for in 2023 when he smashed 31 homers, while also making slight improvements across the board.
This season, however, has been a case of regression. He's slashing .218/.285/.380 with just eight home runs over 71 games. He was slightly better during his minor league stretch, but still nothing to write home about.
The 25-year-old has been super inconsistent over the course of this season. If Detroit wants to compete next year, they may need to weigh their options with a veteran.
Torkelson turning things back around down the stretch, though, would allow the Tigers to use their resources elsewhere.
