Detroit — This is how these things happen. Not with some cataclysmic event. No big bangs, trumpets or fanfare. Just one day, you look up, and it’s here.
It’s been here.
Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson, if you haven’t noticed, are here. Right smack in the heart of the Tigers’ 8-4 month. Right smack in the heart of all that’s gone right in this recent 16-12 resurgence.
“They handle a lot of responsibility,” manager AJ Hinch said. “They continue to work, evolve and grow. They’re not naïve to the fact that they are a big part of our present and our future, and it is a lot to bestow on them.”
Neither has shied away from that responsibility. They embraced it through bad times, and they aren’t about to shy away from it now, in better times.
In the month of May, Greene, who had three hits Sunday and has hit safely in 15 of his last 17 games, is slashing .383/.420/.553 and a .973 OPS. He’s got five doubles, a home run, scored six runs and knocked in eight runs so far this month.
Torkelson in May is slashing .283/.327/.435 with a .761 OPS, four doubles, a homer and six RBIs.
They’re no longer coming. They’re no longer some vague representation of hope.
They are here.
“We’ve been patient with both guys,” Hinch said. “Our belief is never going to waver. Our trust in their work is not going to waver. The results are starting to show up a little bit. But, they shouldn’t have to carry the whole burden of the offense for us.
“They’re going to be a big part of it. But, the calmness around each other and around the responsibility is very noteworthy.”
It might seem like they are attached at the hip. They live together in the spring. Their lockers are next to each other in the clubhouse. It’s rare to see one without the other. Both are fierce competitors and among the hardest workers on the team.
But, their personalities and demeanors are quite different.
For example, when Greene was scuffling for a couple of weeks in April — going 9-for-55 with 21 strikeouts — he steadfastly maintained that he wasn’t going through it, that he wasn’t struggling. The hits just weren’t falling.
Still, he shaved his beard and kept a thick, cheesy mustache.
“Personally, it just comes with trusting yourself,” Greene said. “I do all this stupid stuff. Like, I grow a mustache. I do just random stuff. Everyone thinks it’s funny. And it is funny. But, stuff like that really helps you mentally.
“Like, OK, I changed something. It’s a step forward. Let’s go. It works.”
What also works for Greene is his unrelenting team-first mentality. It’s remarkable, especially for a 22-year-old player who has been the star of every team he’s played on. And it’s genuine.
“Obviously, I want to go out and play hard every day,” he said. “It’s nice to play well. But, it is a team game and you are only as good as the guy behind you. It really doesn’t matter what I did yesterday (Friday) because we lost. I got two hits but I don’t really care. We lost.
“It’s a team game. If I go 0-for-4 and we win, I’m as happy as I can be.”
But as Hinch said, Greene’s not naïve about his impact on this team. He’s the engine. In the club’s 18 wins, Greene has been a monster — .366/.416/.563 with 13 RBIs.
Not that Greene sees it exactly that way.
“We all want to be the engine,” he said. “We all want to start something, get it hot. If you watch us, it’s usually someone different every day. Someone is going to wake up that day feeling good and be like, ‘I’m going to get four (hits) today, I’m going to get three today.’
“We feed off that. It’s not always going to be me. It’s not always going to be Tork. But, it’s going to be someone in the lineup who woke up and came to the yard that day feeling good.”
‘Trust the process’
Torkelson, who will turn 24 in late August, tends to feel the weight of expectations a little more. Although, after last season’s ordeal, being sent back to Triple-A at the All-Star break, his mind has been seemingly a lot freer of that particular burden.
“I definitely let some outside expectations create a picture of myself that was so unattainable,” he said. “In this game, especially. And I guess that’s super natural. But realizing that and bringing it back to where it’s like, ‘OK, what can I control? What can I do?’ And then getting back to trusting what I do best and just being myself.”
Torkelson, the first pick of the draft in 2020, never experienced true failure in the game until he got to the big leagues. It can be jarring, mentally.
“What started the wheels turning on that was my first taste of pro ball,” he said, referencing spring training 2.0 in 2020. “I was like, ‘Holy crap, these guys are better than me.’ I’ve always been the best player on the field. But, I was super naïve. I’d just gotten drafted. This isn’t like the NFL, where you get drafted and go right into the league.
“I knew there was a process, but I didn’t want to trust the process. Then the process kicked my butt a little bit, and I learned to trust it.”
He took the process up several notches this winter, working out relentlessly on his swing mechanics, his hitting approach, his nutrition and on his physical strength. He was a very different-looking and performing player from spring training on.
The results — albeit way too gradual for his taste — are starting to show.
“That’s a sigh of relief almost,” Torkelson said. “But, it’s also a sign that there’s a long way to go. This is not a finished product. And in 10 years, it’s not going to be a finished product. We’re going to keep going. But, it is nice to see that, hey, I’m contributing.”
On deck: Pirates
Series: Two games at Comerica Park
First pitch: Tuesday – 6:40 p.m.; Wednesday — 1:10 p.m.
TV/radio: BSD/97.1
Probables: Tuesday – RHP Luis Ortiz (0-1, 3.60) vs. RHP Michael Lorenzen (1-2, 4.18); Wednesday – LHP Rich Hill (3-3, 4.35) vs. LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (4-2, 1.57).
Ortiz, Pirates: This will be the second start of the season for the hard-throwing Dominican. He throws mostly four-seam fastballs and sinkers, 95-97 mph, with a slider. He was dominating Triple-A hitters before the Pirates called him up, allowing eight runs in 32.1 innings.
Lorenzen, Tigers: He’s been lights-out in two starts this month, going seven innings in each and allowing only one run. His four-seam fastball and changeup combination have been lethal. Hitters are batting .154 against his heater, .138 on his changeup.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky