Spencer Torkelson’s Red-hot August
Photo courtesy of FanGraphs
Expectations were high for the former 1st round pick Spencer Torkelson. Having an electric minor league career, Tigers Fans couldn’t wait to see Torkelson perform. He would make his debut during the 2022 season, playing in 110 games. His production wasn’t where fans had hoped it would be. His slashline looked like .203/.285/.319 with eight home runs and 28 RBI’s. The positive was the Torkelson still had a ton of growth in his future and it seems he’s found it this month.
As a whole, Torkelson’s 2023 season has been an improvement from the previous year. He’s slashed .232/.315/.434 with 21 homeruns and 66 RBI’s but in August he’s been elite. In 17 games this month, he’s produced .254/.371/.627 with 6 home runs & 12 RBI’s. He’s ranked 1st in Barrel Rate (a barrel is a batted ball that has at least an expected batting average of .500 and slugging percentage of 1.500), 1st in Hard-Hit rate (a hard-hit ball is a ball in play that has an exit velocity of at least 95 mph), and 6th in average exit velocity.
With the recent injury to Josh Jung, If Torkelson continue’s to hit this well to end the season, he may end up as a Rookie of the Year finalist. Detroit fan’s are seeing their future star blossom right in front of them.
