Spencer Torkelson

Spencer Torkelson

23-Year-Old First Baseman1B
Detroit Tigers
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Torkelson is a cautionary tale that prospect hype doesn't always translate to immediate MLB success. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft made his much-anticipated debut on Opening Day 2022 but never really got going for the Tigers. He batted .190 in April with a 33.8 percent strikeout rate, which set the tone for the rest of his rookie season. Torkelson was optioned to Triple-A Toledo in July to help get him back on track, and he returned to Detroit in September. He was marginally better over the final month of the season, batting .219 with a 21.7 percent strikeout rate. Overall, it was a disappointing campaign for the 23-year-old, but fantasy managers should remain patient. Torkelson was regarded as an elite hitter during his time at Arizona State, and prospects sometimes just take a little longer to get comfortable in the majors. The Tigers are also still very much in rebuilding mode, so they should have plenty of playing time available for Torkelson. If he gets off to a better start in his second season, he could hit his stride and never look back. Read Past Outlooks
RANKSFrom Preseason
#297
ADP
$Signed a one-year contract with the Tigers in March of 2023.
Provides offense in loss
1BDetroit Tigers
June 4, 2023
Torkelson went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Sunday's 6-2 loss to the White Sox.
ANALYSIS
Torkelson's blast off Michael Kopech in the fourth inning opened the scoring, but it was all the Tigers could muster in the contest. This was Torkelson's first homer in 14 games, a span in which he's gone just 11-for-50 (.220) with three doubles and four RBI. The first baseman is up to five homers, 26 RBI, 23 runs scored, two stolen bases and a .234/.315/.368 slash line over 56 contests overall. Despite the lackluster numbers, the Tigers seem content with letting the 23-year-old learn on the job in another rebuilding year.
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Batting Stats
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2023
2022
2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
2
19
12
10
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
8
4
1
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2021
 
 
+22%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
+48%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+11%
OPS vs LHP
2021
No Stats
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021vs Left .731 155 19 4 13 0 .241 .323 .409
Since 2021vs Right .601 486 42 9 41 2 .206 .286 .315
2023vs Left .921 48 6 2 7 0 .300 .396 .525
2023vs Right .622 189 17 3 19 2 .219 .291 .331
2022vs Left .651 107 13 2 6 0 .216 .290 .361
2022vs Right .587 297 25 6 22 0 .198 .283 .304
2021vs Left 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2021vs Right 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2021
 
 
+32%
OPS on Road
2023
 
 
+7%
OPS on Road
2022
 
 
+49%
OPS on Road
2021
No Stats
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021Home .543 309 28 4 23 1 .179 .282 .261
Since 2021Away .715 333 33 9 31 1 .246 .309 .405
2023Home .656 108 11 1 10 1 .222 .333 .322
2023Away .703 130 12 4 16 1 .244 .300 .403
2022Home .484 201 17 3 13 0 .157 .254 .230
2022Away .722 203 21 5 15 0 .247 .315 .407
2021Home 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2021Away 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
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Stat Review
How does Spencer Torkelson compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.44
 
BB Rate
9.7%
 
K Rate
21.8%
 
BABIP
.284
 
ISO
.134
 
AVG
.234
 
OBP
.315
 
SLG
.368
 
OPS
.684
 
wOBA
.304
 
Exit Velocity
92.1 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
36.3%
 
Barrels/PA
6.3%
 
Expected BA
.270
 
Expected SLG
.437
 
Sprint Speed
23.4 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
35.0%
 
Line Drive %
22.5%
 
Fly Ball %
42.5%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
Torkelson, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft, climbed through the three highest levels of the minors in his first pro season and has made the Tigers' Opening Day roster to begin the 2022 campaign. All told, he hit .267/.383/.552 with 30 home runs, a 21.5 K% and a 14.5 BB% in 121 games, with his production getting slightly worse as he moved up the ladder. To cap things off, he hit .450 with eight walks and five strikeouts in seven Arizona Fall League games before a sprained ankle ended his run there. He excels at getting the ball in the air, logging groundball rates below 36% at every stop. For now, it seems Torkelson will be power over hit and better in OBP leagues than AVG leagues, but we're working with just one year's worth of data. Torkelson split time between first base and third base at High-A and Double-A, but he played first base exclusively at Triple-A, and that's his presumptive home in the majors. Seen as one of the best college hitters of the past couple decades, the Arizona State product hasn't notably increased or decreased his stock since entering pro ball, but he's expected to be the primary option at first for Detroit this year.
Perhaps the biggest question with last year's No. 1 overall pick is which position he will end up at. Torkelson has been labeled a generational college hitter by many evaluators -- one who projects to hit for big-time power with at least a plus hit tool. He has yet to play in an official minor-league game, but nothing about his offensive profile has changed since the draft, and he got plenty of quality reps at the alternate site and in fall instructs. However, in a surprising move, the Tigers have developed him strictly as a third baseman after Torkelson played first base exclusively at Arizona State. He says the transition has gone well and he expects to be able to handle the hot corner with more reps. There may be years where he is eligible at both corner-infield spots, but short of that, it doesn't really matter for fantasy. He could debut as early as this summer if he performs as expected.
More Fantasy News
Records second steal
1BDetroit Tigers
June 2, 2023
Torkelson went 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base in Friday's 3-0 loss to the White Sox.
ANALYSIS
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Good game in win
1BDetroit Tigers
May 25, 2023
Torkelson went 2-for-3 with two walks, an RBI and a run scored in Thursday's win over the White Sox.
ANALYSIS
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Carries offense in loss
1BDetroit Tigers
May 21, 2023
Torkelson went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Nationals.
ANALYSIS
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Doubles twice in win
1BDetroit Tigers
May 17, 2023
Torkelson went 2-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored in Tuesday's 4-0 victory over Pittsburgh.
ANALYSIS
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Adds three hits Tuesday
1BDetroit Tigers
May 10, 2023
Torkelson went 3-for-4 with a double in Tuesday's loss against the Guardians.
ANALYSIS
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