Like all bad 'staches, it's hardly visible at first glance. Then it's impossible to ignore. It's grimy and engrossing all at once, a tawdry knock-off of something better, like the well-groomed beard of Riley Greene. It's struggling for life but sticking around, and perhaps so is Spencer Torkelson. If he keeps on hitting, the hair on his upper lip is here to stay.
"I rake with a mustache," Torkelson said after an offensive awakening in the Tigers' 14-7 win over the Rangers on Saturday. "I don't think it's the best look, but the boys needed something and I'll do anything. I don't care what I look like."
It's a stretch to even call it a mustache. It resembles a centipede more than a caterpillar. Torkelson's right: It's not a good look. But he and the Tigers finally looked good at the plate this weekend, scoring five-plus runs in back to back games for the first time this year. In the scope of a historically awful offensive season, this qualifies as momentum. So as the Tigers embark on an eight-game road trip Monday in Boston, the mustache is coming with them.
Torkelson does rake with a 'stache. He last grew one -- or tried to grow one -- several months ago in the Arizona Fall League and hit .450 through seven games before shutting things down due to an ankle injury. He started growing this one after the Tigers were swept by the White Sox last week. He closed the week with consecutive multi-hit games for the first time this month, helping the Tigers score 21 runs in two games after they had scored 22 in their prior 13.
Torkelson's cheeks are red. His voice still cracks. He looks and sounds even younger than 22. He said his dad "rocks a mustache," but would prefer for his son "to be the clean-cut kid." Problem was, the clean-cut kid was hitting .178 through his first 58 games with the Tigers as part of the worst MLB offense in the last 50 years. Asked Sunday if he began to wonder if they would ever start hitting, Torkelson admitted, "Yeah, that thought will creep in." Now a few fuzzy blonde hairs are creeping in instead.
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Torkelson went 2-5 with a pair of runs on Saturday. He went 2-4 with a two-out, bases-loaded single to break a 3-3 tie in the fifth on Sunday. It wasn't a well-struck ball, but it found a patch of grass in shallow center field, the kind of big-league luck that has eluded Torkelson for most of his rookie season. It was the reward for putting the bat on the ball on a tidy two-strike slider.
"You just gotta persevere and stay positive and just know that those hits will fall," Torkelson said.
Whether they keep falling remains to be seen. Torkelson was seemingly on the verge of a breakout the last time he had back-to-back multi-hit games, the conclusion of solid 15-game stretch in which he hit .326 from May 18-31. He hit .085 over his next 15 games before finally busting out this weekend. But things are different now. Torkelson has a tickle on his upper lip and his 'best friend' in the locker next to him.
He also had Greene hitting in front of him the past two games. And the 21-year-old with the grown-man facial hair seemed to show Torkelson the way. Greene reached base six times and scored two runs. Torkelson reached base four times and scored three runs.
"It's not going to change, it's all contagious," said Torkelson. "Everyone feeds off each other. It's a good feeling going up to the plate knowing, 'My buddy got him. It's doable.' When we're getting no-hit through the fifth inning, it's like can we hit this guy? But when we're all attacking him and getting to the fastball and taking some good off-speed pitches, you know we're locked in."
Again, we'll see how long this lasts. The Tigers just took advantage of two of the American League's most hittable starting pitchers in Taylor Hearn and Dane Dunning. They're about to face a much-stingier Red Sox rotation, though they do get rookie Josh Winckowski to kick off the series. They have a long way to go to resemble even a league-average offense. Two productive games does not constitute a turnaround.
It does allow them to breathe.
"We were going through it," said Torkelson. "To have the last couple of days, it's pretty refreshing."
Torkelson, in particular, still needs to hit more mistakes. He has missed too many platter-served pitches to thrive in the big leagues. His patience at the plate has been encouraging, but as A.J. Hinch said last week, "The swing and miss in the zone has not been his calling card, that's not who he is. He should be a better hitter than that."
Torkelson was a better hitter for two games over the weekend, boosted by some good fortune. He hit the ball hard and found some holes when he didn't. His confidence is growing with the hair on his upper lip, which he intends to manicure in the coming days. He admitted it looked pretty bad in the Fall League. It's not going anywhere if he continues to look good at the plate.
"I'll do anything for a win, I'll do anything for a hit," said Torkelson. "The mustache is for the win."
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