A month ago, A.J. Hinch said the Tigers hadn't even talked about sending Spencer Torkelson down to Toledo. Now they've done just that.
The Tigers have reportedly optioned Torkelson to Triple-A amid his season-long slump at the plate, the second time in three seasons that the former No. 1 pick has been demoted from the bigs.
A year after breaking out with 31 homers, Torkelson is hitting .201 with a .597 OPS. He's 3-for-37 in his last 10 games and 0-for-16 in his last four and was benched twice in the Tigers' four-game series against the Red Sox over the weekend.
"I think there's some mechanics things with him, where his weight is distributed, his lower half, trusting a lot of the work he's doing in the cage to be consistent, but it's a lot harder than just an analysis or a suggestion," Hinch told reporters in Boston before Sunday's game. "Everyone in his ear is trying to get him to do something positive."
Torkelson will try to get himself right in Toledo, freed from some of the pressure and scrutiny of playing in Detroit. He's hitting just .179 against fastballs this season and has the lowest line-drive rate in the majors.
"It’s definitely fixable," Hinch said last month. "This guy’s still really young and learning his way. He didn’t hit 30 homers last year by accident. The talent is in there. The consistency has been tough and he’s paying the consequence of it with less performance than he's capable of. ...
"Some of it is timing, some of it is, he gets caught in between quite a bit, and that’s a very natural mistake for a hitter who’s trying to do a little bit too much and cover everything. He's late on fastballs where it’s either swing and miss or a pop-up, or early on breaking balls where he has to commit without seeing the pitch. In some ways I think Tork could sell out either way and have a plan to attack something, as opposed to try to cover everything."
To take his spot on the roster, the Tigers are calling up fellow 24-year-old Justyn-Henry Malloy from Toledo. He will join the team in Texas on Monday for its series against the World champion Rangers.
Acquired ahead of last season from the Braves in the Joe Jimenez trade, Malloy is in the midst of his second strong year in Triple-A. He has an OPS of .889 this season, fueled by an on-base percentage of .412. He's a patient right-handed hitter who works the count, but he's also prone to strikeouts.
Malloy has played mostly in the outfield in Toledo and will likely serve primarily as a designated hitter for the Tigers. To cover Torkelson at first, the Tigers will use a rotation of players including Gio Urshela, Mark Canha and Andy Ibañez.