The conversation surrounding Spencer Torkelson goes something like this. On Tuesday, after Torkelson had hit four homers in the Tigers' winning road trip last week, A.J. Hinch told MLB Network Radio, "I kind of love where he's at." On Thursday, after Torkelson had gone 1-for-9 in back-to-back losses to the A's, Hinch told 97.1 The Ticket, "He’s got some work to do." Both statements can be true.
"I’m just trying to keep some of the conversation around Tork not being so feast whenever he hits two or three homers, and then all of a sudden he has the rough games and we automatically revert back to, 'This guy’s struggling,'" Hinch said Thursday on the Stoney & Jansen Show. "So I don’t know. We’re continuing to push him. I do know his approach behind the scenes has been very consistent and very good, and we remind him he’s still a kid."
Torkelson is 23, turning 24 next month, and less than 200 games into his MLB career. He's also a first overall pick, drafted as a can't-miss bat out of college, who's less than a league-average hitter in terms of both wRC+ and OPS+ in his second season. Among players with at least 700 plate appearances since the start of last season, Torkelson is tied for last in the bigs with a -0.9 fWAR.
But flip the conversation on its head. Through 83 games last season before he was demoted to Triple-A, Torkelson was hitting .197 and slugging .296 with a .577 OPS. He had five homers and 21 RBI. Through 83 games this season, he's hitting .225 and slugging .402 with a .709 OPS. He has 12 homers and 42 RBI.
So there was Torkelson on Wednesday night after the Tigers' 12-3 loss to the worst team in baseball, taking on a question about his personal progress and where he thinks he is halfway through year two in the majors.
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"I feel like I’m right where I need to be," Torkelson said. "Feel good. I feel like I’m learning a lot every day. It’s just an upward trajectory. It’s a tough game, it’s a hard game, but you keep grinding and keep battling, I think good things are going to keep happening."
The Tigers need more from Torkelson if they have any hope of staying alive in the mostly-dead AL Central. But forget the division for a moment. Forget any dreams of a long-overdue playoff chase this summer. The Tigers need more from Torkelson moving forward, if they're going to move forward at all. Asked about his biggest positive from last year to this year, Torkelson said, "I’d say just the consistency in my approach and my process.
"Just day by day, no matter what the result looks like, if I’m feeling good and I’m confident and I'm positive up there, I feel like I can do anything," he said.
We saw this hitter last week, and during a homestand last month. As Hinch said Thursday, "When he puts together a series, it’s pretty special." But if the good comes in spurts, the bad comes in waves. Torkelson had been 6-for-42 prior to his mini surge last month. He followed it up by going 5-for-45. For an already struggling offense, these stretches of empty at-bats are especially costly at the top of the lineup. But as Hinch also said Thursday, "He's gotta play." That is, there's no way out but through.
"We want these guys to come out of the womb when they get to the big leagues and be fully developed and perfect, and it’s just not that way for Tork. Once we deal with that reality, we start to chip away at that consistency," said Hinch. "I wish it was as simple as saying, 'Man, we need you more consistent.' This is a tough league. I’m not giving him excuses at all, I’m just giving us a reality check that he’s got some adjustments to make."
For one, said Hinch, Torkelson sometimes carries "the intent" of his last at-bat into his next one, when he needs a different plan: "It's a young mistake." For another, "he’s learning when to hunt fastball and when to be selective." The Tigers (and Torkelson) remain encouraged by his batted-ball data, which suggests better results. Torkelson's average exit velocity of 92.1 mph, which ranks in the 87th percentile of MLB hitters, is the exact same as that of Mike Trout. He's doing something right.
"When he gets a good pitch to hit and he stays collected in himself, he’s been really good," Hinch said. "Again, I’m the patient one with all these young guys. We need to let them learn and succeed and fail and go through these little ruts and have them not be perfect right out of the gate."
That was Hinch on Tuesday. Here he was Thursday, batting back the critics: "If we had had this radio show on Monday after his series in Colorado, would we be saying the same thing? And the answer is no."
So the conversation continues. By the end of the year, you just hope to find more than silver linings in a Tork Talk.
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