Detroit Tigers prospect Spencer Torkelson, the No. 1 overall pick in 2020 out of Arizona State, expects to make his MLB debut at some point in 2022. The same is true for Riley Greene, the No. 5 overall pick in 2019 out of high school in Florida.
Their anticipated debuts could happen as soon as Opening Day.
But that’s not Torkelson’s end game. Not even close. Whether Torkelson makes his debut on March 31 in Seattle — the Tigers’ best-case scenario from a pure talent standpoint — or a few weeks into the regular season, the 22-year-old is thinking bigger than his first game.
“It’s really cool to have the opportunity,” Torkelson said Thursday from his new offseason home in Gilbert, Arizona. “I’m sure Riley is the same way: Obviously, you want to make your big-league debut, but you want to win. You don’t want to show up and be like, ‘All right, I made it to the big leagues, everything’s good.’
“We want to succeed there. We want to help the team win.”
Torkelson and Greene are scheduled to report to the Tigers’ spring training facility in Lakeland, Florida, a few days ahead of Feb. 21, the first full-squad workouts in minor-league minicamp. They plan to live together again in Lakeland, along with shortstop prospect Ryan Kreidler, just like they did during spring training in 2021 and instructional league in November 2020.
After completing their physicals, Torkelson and Greene will aim to build on their successes in pursuit of playing for Tigers manager AJ Hinch straight out of camp.
“There’s no secret that the first baseman of the future is going to be Spencer Torkelson,” Hinch said in September on MLB Network Radio. “He’s in Triple-A, hitting a homer about every other day, and he’s opening eyes. Eyes were quite honestly already open to him. But I don’t know when his arrival is going to be.”
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Until the MLB lockout ends, Hinch’s squad won’t be present at the Lakeland complex. The league’s owners and the Players Association aren’t close to a new collective bargaining agreement; barring an unforeseen miracle, spring training will be delayed for players on the 40-man roster.
Torkelson, though, isn’t on that roster, so he can report to camp.
“I’m really excited to see some guys I met last year in spring training and work on developing chemistry with everyone,” Torkelson said. “I believe that’s what winning teams have. Everyone in the big leagues has talent, but at the end of the day, the best team always wins.”
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The right-hander crushed his first season of professional baseball, hitting .267 with 29 doubles, 30 home runs, 91 RBIs, 77 walks and 114 strikeouts in 121 games spread among High-A West Michigan (31 games), Double-A Erie (50 games) and Triple-A Toledo (40 games).
He hit .312 with five homers for the Whitecaps, .263 with 14 homers for the SeaWolves and .238 with 11 homers for the Mud Hens, and he posted a 14.5% walk rate and 21.5% strikeout rate at his three stops combined. Despite a rough batting average in Toledo, Torkelson put his power on display while still getting on base at a .350 clip.
“The thing I took most from 2021 was learning how to play professional baseball,” Torkelson said. “It’s the same game — everyone says that — but it’s a little different because you’re playing every day. In college, I played 57 games in my longest season. This year, I played 121.”
Torkelson thrived in the All-Star Futures Game in July at Denver’s Coors Field, living up to his status as a top prospect. He is ranked No. 4 in all of baseball, according to MLB Pipeline (three spots ahead of Greene).
Still, Torkelson had his ups and downs.
“You might go 0-for-4, but that doesn’t mean you change your routine the next day,” Torkelson said. “You still do the same thing, just create that muscle memory.”
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Thinking back to last year’s spring training, Torkelson believes his hardships prepared him for day-to-day grind of the minor leagues. His .037 batting average with four walks and 16 strikeouts in 19 games introduced him to the challenges he would face in 2021.
“Every level is an adjustment,” Torkelson said. “I was kind of naïve going into spring training like, ‘Oh, I’ve succeeded in baseball before, so this isn’t going to be an issue.’ All of a sudden, I’m struggling. It was like, ‘All right, that didn’t go as planned.’ But it definitely helped me out in the long run. There are going to be times like that, and just knowing your keys, knowing yourself and knowing how to get out of the funk faster.”
Torkelson locked in his mindset and found a consistent routine. Those adjustments propelled him to a pair of promotions — putting him one level away from the majors — and a trip to the Arizona Fall League.
“I’d say staying positive is the biggest key,” Torkelson said, “knowing you’re playing a sport where you’re going to fail.”
The Arizona Fall League put Torkelson on a pedestal with other elite prospects. He was one of 16 prospects from MLB Pipeline’s top 100 list and one of three ranked in the top six (along with San Francisco Giants shortstop Marco Luciano and San Diego Padres shortstop CJ Abrams).
He said he didn’t worry about his results.
They were exceptional, though: He hit .450 with two doubles, three RBIs, eight walks and five strikeouts in seven games for the Salt River Rafters. He had a 1.157 on-base plus slugging percentage and made the AFL’s Fall Stars Game (along with Tigers pitching prospect Garrett Hill).
An ankle injury sustained on a pickoff attempt Oct. 20 ended Torkelson’s AFL campaign before the Fall Stars Game.
“I’m kind of still salty at the catcher,” Torkelson said.
There were two outs in the fourth inning as the Rafters faced the Surprise Saguaros. The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Torkelson stood on third base and wasn’t looking to steal home. He simply took a secondary lead, and after the pitch, Washington Nationals prospect Drew Millas attempted to back-pick him at the hot corner.
Torkelson needed to get back to third base quickly, but he didn’t feel far enough away to slide, so he lunged toward the bag with his right foot. He was safe, but he rolled his ankle on the base and exited the game.
He was diagnosed with a Grade 2 right ankle sprain. His estimated timetable for recovery: 4-6 weeks.
“Honestly, more than anything, it’s just kind of a pain in the ass,” Torkelson said. “It sucks doing it. The rehab has been pretty non-stop. Like, I’m still going to physical therapy, and it happened over three months ago. I’m trying to get it back to 100%. It’s pretty much there, but it’s just a matter of playing on it again.”
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Torkelson’s first significant injury in his pro career tasked him with a lengthy healing process. He drives 40 minutes to Spooner Physical Therapy in Phoenix on Monday through Friday, and every so often on Saturday. His offseason training, now that his ankle is “99.9%” healthy, includes “working on pushing back off the bag.”
“The last thing I want to do is twist it again,” Torkelson said.
He has put a positive spin on his rehab.
“It makes you work a little harder,” Torkelson said. “You got to work that much harder to get back to normal and then improve your game. My goal isn’t to be what I was on Oct. 20 when I hurt it. I’m trying to be better than I was before. The adversity side of it is pretty enjoyable, if you look at it the right way.”
Torkelson also spends nearly every day at Arizona State, the place where he developed for three years.
He does his baseball work, a mix of batting practice and fielding ground balls, from 8-10 a.m. with former Sun Devils pitcher Brady Corrigan, his friend and college roommate who is now a graduate assistant at ASU.
“The biggest difference I’ve noticed is the efficiency he’s working with, working smarter not harder,” Corrigan said Friday. “It’s not necessarily about ‘X’ amount of swings but just doing things the right way. The intent of his work has really ramped up as he’s matured and grown.”
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Soon, Torkelson will be under the spotlight in Lakeland. Everyone wants to know if he will make the Opening Day roster — his MLB debut is a matter of when, not if. But that’s a decision for the Tigers, not Torkelson.
“There are a lot of things that are out of his control,” Corrigan said. “But I think his consistency will pay off in the long run, and whenever that time comes, he’ll be ready to rock and roll. It’ll be pretty cool.”
Regardless of when, Torkelson appears lined up for a life-changing 2022 season.
And it all begins at minicamp in Lakeland.
“I’m just excited to get better and show up to the field every day,” Torkelson said. “Sometimes in the offseason, it feels like your life doesn’t have any meaning. It might just be me, but I just want to play baseball.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.