Late in the 1974 season, a middling Red Sox team called up outfielders Jim Rice and Fred Lynn for a quick taste of the show. A year later, the two highly-touted youngsters made the club out of spring training and helped Boston reach the World Series. Lynn won Rookie of the Year and MVP, Rice finished second and third, respectively. The duo would eventually produce 10 All-Star seasons -- and two MVP awards -- as teammates with the Red Sox.
Which brings us to Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene and the bright future of the Tigers.
"The situation with Torkelson and Greene reminds me of when the Red Sox promoted Jim Rice and Fred Lynn in the mid-1970s," former MLB general manager and one-time Executive of the Year Jim Bowden wrote Thursday in The Athletic. "I think they’ll have that level of offensive impact for the Tigers for years to come."
To put it in terms of numbers, Rice hit .304 and averaged 32 homers and 117 RBI over his first 12 seasons in Boston, while Lynn hit .307 and averaged 24 homers and 102 RBI over six seasons before being traded to the Angels (for a package that included future Tigers pitcher Frank Tanana).
In his midseason ranking of the top 50 prospects in baseball, Bowden slotted Torkelson and Greene No. 1 and No. 4, respectively, and listed both as "potential future MVP candidates."
"I also believe they’ll both be major-league ready and in the Tigers starting lineup on Opening Day 2022," Bowden said.
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The Tigers promoted their top two prospects to Triple-A Toledo last week, because Torkelson and Greene gave them no choice. So far, so good for Greene, who's hitting .300 with eight RBI in his first eight games, while Torkelson, off to a cooler start, launched his first homer Wednesday night. Both have a real shot to make the big-league team out of camp next spring.
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Bowden said Torkelson "reminds me a lot of Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera and, more recently, Eloy Jiménez, when they started their major-league careers" and predicts the 22-year-old "will lead the American League in home runs and RBIs someday."
As for Greene, who doesn't turn 21 until September and is nearly seven years younger than the average player in Triple-A, Bowden said "his bat is developing at a rapid pace" and predicts he will "become a Silver Slugger and MVP-type standout."
To wit: not bad!
Will we see Torkelson and Greene in Detroit next month, like Rice and Lynn in Boston in 1974? Unlikely. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch threw cold water on that idea last month, even with rosters set to expand Sept. 1. But there's a good chance we'll see them next spring, and for the next several years to come.