When the college baseball season was canceled and Spencer Torkelson returned home to California, he wanted to keep hitting. So he built a batting cage in his backyard and blasted balls into it every day. Well, for a few days, anyway.
"The net was probably made for a 10-year-old. I put it a hole in it the first two weeks," Torkelson told reporters on a Zoom call Thursday. "Maybe that’s a good thing, I don’t know."
Alan Trammell could have seen it coming. The first time he saw Torkelson play, at a season-opening tournament this February, the soon-to-be Tiger lined a 3-1 pitch to the right-field fence in his first at-bat, then cranked a 3-2 pitch to the moon in his second.
"A slider," Trammell said. "They measured it at 435 feet. 3-2, you’re just trying to make good, solid contact and he hit a home run that far, on a slider. He is a strong young man, athletic, and he’s got good arm strength. You add all that together, you go, 'We got a special guy. There’s no question about it.'"
If there was one at-bat that sold the Tigers on Torkelson as the first overall pick in the draft, this was it. The club's director of amateur scouting Scott Pleis was there, too. The game came on Valentines Day. Naturally, the Tigers fell in love.
"It's always nice to hang out with a Hall-of-Famer when you're watching these guys," said Pleis. "When Tram said to me, 'Did you see him hit that slider?' when it was deep in the count and he did something with it, little things like that -- you get lucky to be there and see it -- are huge. His plate disciple and knowing what he's doing, he's a smart hitter."
How's this for plate discipline? In 17 games this season at Arizona State, Torkelson had more than twice as many walks as strikeouts. He was hitting .340 with a 1.378 OPS. Scouts wonder whether he'll be able to hit for average in the majors, but the Tigers aren't so concerned. And they have no doubts as to whether his power will hold up in Comerica Park.
"It’s going to play in Comerica Park," said Trammell. "It’s one of the bigger ballparks in baseball, but no ballpark’s going to hold Tork. There’s no question about it."
It's not just his power -- his "plus-plus power," as Pleis puts it -- that appeals to the Tigers. It's the fact that he supplies it so naturally. Unlike some power hitters, said Trammell, Torkelson doesn't sell out to hit the ball a long way. It simply jumps off his bat.
"That leads us to believe that it’s going to be a little easier transition into professional baseball," Trammell said. "Obviously you’re going to go through some ups and downs. But to his credit, he has done the work to this point to have a real nice package that is going to be easier to work with.
"He’s just a strong young man. He has a little bit of a lift in his swing that you see the power guys have, that when he hits it, it’s gone. It keeps going."
"It’s a privilege," he said. "That pressure, whatever you want to call it, it drives me and makes me work harder. I don’t let it phase me. It’s a privilege to be in the position I’m in, and now you just have to run away with it."