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MLB 2020 Draft - Tigers Draft Spencer Torkelson #1 And sign him to $8.4 Million Bonus

Sounds like Spencer Torkelson will get every opportunity to earn regular role at 1B for Tigers. He's meeting with Tigers hitting coaches in Arizona this week.
Hinch: "We have other options if we need to, but clearly our best team has Spencer Torkelson as a major contributor."
Jason Beck

Spencer Torkelson should never have been promoted to Detroit w/only 1 year of minors exp. under his belt. It was a desperate move by Al Avila to deflect concern over the status of his rebuild.
You now have to consider the mental damage done to Tork by that move. If the new Tiger hitting coaches can get him back on track, it will be a very good statement about the new personnel hired.
Totally Tigers
 
https://totallytigers.wordpress.com/2023/01/21/deeper-discussions-58/
DEEPER DISCUSSIONS.
Totally Tigers

Scott Harris once indicated that the Tigers may acquire someone to play first base on a short-term basis. It was a hint that Spencer Torkelson would have to earn that spot all over again.

Recently, A. J. Hinch indicated that the position was Tork?s to lose.

Torkelson was fine defensively but struggled mightily at the plate. So much so that he ranked at the very bottom of all #1 draft picks in first year performance.

AAA hitting coach Adam Melhuse was sent to AZ this winter to work with Tork. The results are unknown however Melhuse has now been demoted within the organization.

This past week, the Tigers sent all of their new hitting coaches to AZ to meet with Spencer. Of concern have been reports that he has refused to change his swing.

Meanwhile, the Tigers hired hitting guru Anthony Iapoce to manage the Mud Hens. He is there to address the lack of offensive training and the Tigers? inability to produce strong hitters.

Should Torkelson be allowed to prove himself again in Detroit this year?
The Tigers have now been without a full-time 1Ber for 3 continuous years.

Or should he take a step back in order to potentially take 2 steps forward? Should he spend some or most of the year in Toledo working with Iapoce?

Today?s blog addresses this dilemma and allows readers to share their thoughts in more detail. And hopefully, to actively engage with others by responding to their posts and creating back-and-forth discussion threads. The more the merrier!

For this one blog only, you?ve got 6 sentences max to share your thoughts. Of course, you can respond to as many other readers as you want.

TT will supply the ammunition. One thought-provoking question. Several options provided. One hard choice to be selected. One vote.
Ready?

Where should Spencer Torkelson spend the 2023 season?

1. Start in Detroit if he has a great spring training.

2. Start him in Toledo and see how he does first.

3. Have him spend most of the year in Toledo.

VOTE
 
https://totallytigers.wordpress.com/2023/01/23/attitude-or-environment/
ATTITUDE OR ENVIRONMENT?
Totally Tigers

As we get closer to spring training, we start to think about all those loose ends from last year. The question marks. The concerns.

The hot topics.

And there is nothing hotter than continued speculation about Spencer Torkelson?s future.

Afterall, he was the #1 draft pick and poster child who would help validate the rationale for why the Tigers decided to tank.

But should we blame Tork for what happened ? or didn?t happen ? last year? Did he burst our bubble?

The answer is no.
 
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podca...spect-colt-keith/id1266543495?i=1000596806404
Woodward Tigers Podcast: Chatting with Detroit Tigers prospect Colt Keith
Woodward Tigers. 40 minutes.

The guys talk to Colt Keith, who is the number one prospect on the Tigers Minor League Report Top 25 about his process at the plate, what position he seems himself playing long-term and his talks with Hall of Famer Alan Trammell.
 
Approach Altered, Tigers Prospect Colt Keith is Looking To Loft.

Colt Keith started to tap into his power last year. After going deep just twice in 2021 ? his first professional season ? the 21-year-old third baseman homered nine times in 48 games with High-A West Michigan before landing on the injured list with a dislocated shoulder in early June. Returning to action in October, Keith proceeded to hit three bombs in 19 Arizona Fall League games.

The increased power production by one of the top position-player prospects in the Detroit Tigers organization was by design.

?I changed my approach a little bit,? Keith told me during his stint in the AFL.
?I started trying to hit balls out in front, and backspin them to all fields, looking for a little bit more power. A lot of people had told me I just needed to keep doing what I was doing, but looking at guys in the big leagues that I want to play like, they?re hitting 25-30 homers a year. I felt like I needed to move in that direction. At the same time, I want to keep my hit tool. Batting .300 with some home runs is what I?d like to do.?

That is what he did this past season. The 6-foot-3, 238-pound infielder ? Keith has added meaningful size and strength since entering pro ball ? augmented his regular-season round-trippers with a .301/.370/.544 slash line. In 2021, he?d slashed .320/.437/.422 with Low-A Lakeland before scuffling over the final month as a 19-year-old in the Midwest League.

Asked about the hitters he is trying to emulate, Keith cited fellow infielders Corey Seager, Austin Riley, and Francisco Lindor.

?Looking at how those guys play ? how they approach their at-bats ? they?re more aggressive and tend to be early rather than late,? said Keith. ?What that does is create backspin and let them hit balls out of the park. My first year, I was just catching balls deep and getting base hits ? which is great ? but I figured out that if you?re aggressive and catching it out front, you?ll run into homers. I knew that I had the strength for it, so yeah, just a little approach change.?

When I?d spoken to Detroit?s 2020 fifth-round pick late in the 2021 season, he?d hinted at what has since transpired. While acknowledging that he?d primarily been focusing on contact, he also opined that ?you have to hit first, and then the power comes as you mature and get your man strength.?

Based on his injury-shortened 2022 campaign, that corner is already being turned. Moreover, it is coming not with a major change, but, as he?d explained, ?just a little approach change.?

?The common theme is that I?m basically trying to do the same thing as before, which is to hit the ball hard,? said Keith. ?I?m not trying to swing harder, or anything like that, because that leads to strikeouts for me. Again, all I?m doing is catching it more out front and creating loft ? I?m creating exit velocity with some launch angle on it.?

Fangraphs
 
https://totallytigers.wordpress.com/2023/06/09/saturday-survey-81/
SATURDAY SURVEY.
Totally Tigers

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?

How worried are you about Spencer Torkelson?

1. Not worried at all. He needs more time.

2. Starting to get somewhat concerned.

3. It's not looking good....

VOTE
 
Tork is a failure. Maybe the year off during Covid set him back but when compared to Green it's like night and day..
 
Last edited:
Let's not forget, he's only 23 years old. I would say he is very disappointing so far. I would not rule out that he becomes a decent every day MLB player. But I am 95% sure he will not be an all star caliber player.
 
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