Maybe one day, Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene will be neighbors in the home clubhouse at Comerica Park. For now they're neighbors in a hotel in Lakeland, where the Tigers have assembled an instructional league team bursting with young talent.
"I could knock on the wall right here and say hi to him," Torkelson said Monday on a Zoom call from his room. "He’s a great dude. He gives me a ride to the field every day, get some Starbucks before, go eat dinner all the time. It’s a really good friendship we got going."
They were also neighbors in the Tigers' batting order for Monday's game against the Blue Jays, Greene hitting second, Torkelson third. It didn't take them long to make some noise. After Greene worked a full-count walk in the bottom of the first, Torkelson smashed a 2-2 fastball over the left-field fence.
Torkelson said he was sitting on a heater away, his typical two-strike approach. When he got one inside, he pulled in his hands and beat the pitcher to the spot.
"Just reacted and got it on the barrel and it went out," Torkelson said. "It also helps to have Riley on first base because he has some speed, and you gotta think the pitcher doesn’t want to throw a curveball because he could be stealing. That’s just a free bag for Riley. So it gives you more confidence that he’s going to throw a heater."
On a rainy day in Lakeland -- the game was called after a couple innings -- here was a glimpse of the Tigers' bright future. Greene said last week that he and Torkelson talk often about playing together in the bigs, about bringing winning baseball back to Detroit. Torkelson said Monday they talk about it because "it's real."
"We talked about it today. It rained a little bit and Alan Trammell was like, 'Hey, you’re gonna have to deal with a wet ball every now and then, especially in October," Torkelson said. "That kind of gave me some goosebumps."
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Torkelson, the first overall pick this year, turned 21 in August. Greene, the fifth overall pick last year, turned 20 in September. They are the two best position players in the pipeline for the Tigers, the kind of offensive cornerstones who can anchor a lineup one season after another. Greene hitting second, Torkelson third.
It was a strange summer for both of them. They did all of their damage at the plate against their own teammates in Toledo, which got pretty old pretty quickly. The instructional league games that started last week have been a refreshing change of pace.
"I can finally hit a ball hard without feeling bad for the pitcher," said Greene.
"I was getting sick of facing Tigers," said Torkelson. "I wanted to put the hurtin' on somebody else."
They share a mature approach to hitting, based on the same appreciation for the process. One of Greene's favorite stats to track is what he refers to as 'QAB's:' quality at-bats. Did you make the pitcher work? Did you take some good hacks? Torkelson's appetite for info was spelled out Monday when he casually listed the launch angle (39 degrees) and exit velo (104 mph) of the ball he sent over the fence.
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"He’s got a really good swing," Greene said of Torkelson. "Hits the ball for contact and for power, and a lot, too -- nine times out of 10. He’s got a really good eye. I feel like there’s going to be no problems for him adjusting (to professional pitching)."
"Riley’s the best," said Torkelson. "He’s such a great kid. I feel like the same age as him, but he was drafted out of high school just a year before me and he’s really good."
Torkelson laughed at that idea, that Greene could be this good at this stage of his career. And Greene shakes his head at the down-to-earth likability of the dude drafted first overall.
"Tork as a person is one of the best people I’ve ever met in my life," said Greene. "He’s just a great guy. Works really hard, wants the best for everyone. Just the person he is, it’s pretty impressive."
That's without mentioning the player, who also happens to be making a smooth transition from first base to third under the stewardship of Trammell. Torkelson said he expects to be a Gold Glover there in the future, because "anything other than that isn't acceptable." Greene is out to make the same impression in center field, and he's off to a darn fine start.
We could see the duo in Detroit as soon as next season, not that either one needs to be fast-tracked to the bigs. The Tigers have been building patiently for several years. They won't start rushing things now. Greene and Torkelson will get here when they're ready, which is when the Tigers will once again be ready to win.
"We’ve said it before -- hopefully one day we’ll be up there together," said Greene. "That’s just the thing in the back of our heads that makes us want to work that much harder."