He's Made Improvements, But Spencer Torkelson Has A Long Ways To Go

I need to say this clearly and precisely not to upset the uneducated. THE DETROIT TIGERS SHOULD NOT GIVE UP ON SPENCER TORKELSON. Spencer Torkelson will and should be this team's starting first baseman next season, regardless of how he finishes out this campaign. There are things about Spencer Torkelson that give Tiger fans hope. The peripherals have been solid all year. He has had some really bad luck. I know there are a lot of unlucky players in baseball, but Torkelson takes it to a new level. I've seen this guy rip 1 million balls right to infielders or outfielders all season. I'm sure mentally, that takes quite a toll on him. He also has a bizarre tendency to get screwed over by umpires. These are things that I've seen with my eyes. You can believe that Spencer Torkelson has had bad luck. Spencer Torkelson deserves a chance next year. I'm one of those people. But it's time we stop babying the poor kid. Spencer Torkelson is almost two full years into his Major League career. And right now, he's a bad major-league player. 

Every time I criticize Spencer Torkelson this year, two things have happened. For one, he has a chorus of people come out of the woodwork to tell me that I'm full of shit, that I'm impatient, and that I know nothing about baseball. In a bizarre twist of fate, he also always seems to come alive for a week or so every time I criticize them. There's been some weird voodoo that's going on all season. I've turned it into a running bit. But let's cut the bullshit for a second. Torkelson has been durable, leading the team at home runs and RBIs. That is one of the few positives. That's it. Right now, he's bad.

Saying he's bad right now doesn't mean he will be bad tomorrow or next year. I don't know what will happen five seconds from now. But I know what I've watched over these last two years, and it's a player with a negative WAR, who goes long stretches where he's remarkably inconsistent, and for reasons that are baffling to me, struggles to hit pitches down the middle. Torkelson has a .692 OPS on the season and a -0.5 Wins Above Replacement. As his career goes on, those numbers will go up. But again, we're not talking about the future; right now, he's struggling. And you're not a bad person for being frustrated that a guy everyone said was one of the best college bats of all time has been well below replacement level in his first 782 at bat at the major-league level. The sample size is starting to add up. 

There are some legitimate defenses for why Spencer Torkelson has trouble. I do buy into the idea that being unable to experience a year of Minor League ball because of Covid hindered his development. Still, it didn't suck out his baseball ability. Riley Greene went through the same thing, and he's been fantastic this year. Kerry Carpenter was a 19th-round pick with a career OPS over 100 points higher than what Spencer Torkelson has put up this season. He's been just fine; Torkelson hasn't.

I don't understand the constant protection of Torkelson. I don't know any educated person who thinks the Tigers should get rid of them. But are we not allowed to express our frustrations here? Are we not allowed to acknowledge the truth? Everything may click for Torkelson shortly. He may finish this year red hot and carry that momentum in the next season. I hope that happens. It is to the advantage of my life if Spencer Torkelson is crushing the baseball. But we spend so much time trying to acknowledge what could happen that we fail to acknowledge what has happened. He's been brutal to watch. Yes, he'll have a hot week here or there. He had a month where his OPS was solid, but he's now 3-25 in August with zero runs batted in. For every good week, he'll follow it up with a week in which you can't hit the baseball. You have to stay the course. He's got a learn-on-the-fly. We're talking about a guy with almost two years of big-league experience. I desperately hope that he finds it real soon. But each time I think he's turned the corner, he takes two steps back. That's not what you want out of a round one, pick one guy. Alright, now I'm sure he'll go deep tonight.