Spencer Torkelson’s Adjustments Have Paid Off So Far

Whereas the Twins proceed to stumble, the Tigers are in first place within the AL Central, having lately received 9 out of 11 video games. Spencer Torkelson performed an enormous half in that surge, homering 4 instances over that span and 5 instances to this point this season, placing him midway to final yr’s complete earlier than tax day rolled round. As he’s achieved on and off all through his transient profession, the highest choose of the 2020 draft is raking, however given his ups and downs since reaching the majors in ’22, it is going to take quite a lot of robust weeks to persuade anybody he’s actually turned a nook. Nonetheless, the changes he’s made counsel that is greater than only a random scorching streak.

By means of 156 video games, the 25-year-old Torkelson is hitting a powerful .288/.380/.627. His slugging proportion ranks sixth within the American League, whereas his 184 wRC+ ranks eighth; he was second behind solely Aaron Decide in each classes till Monday’s 0-for-4 in opposition to the Brewers. Admittedly, he hasn’t precisely been beating up on Cy Younger Award hopefuls, as his homers have come on the expense of the Dodgers’ Alex Vesia, the White Sox’s Davis Martin, the Yankees’ Carlos Carrasco, and the Twins’ Kody Funderburk and Simeon Woods Richardson. However Tork and his teammates are a part of the explanation that record appears inauspicious, because the Tigers — who’re 10-6 to date, their greatest begin since 2015 — have crushed up opposing pitchers, scoring 5.0 runs per sport (tied for second within the AL) with a 116 wRC+ (third).

Torkelson’s rookie marketing campaign was roughly a catastrophe (.203/.285/.319, 76 wRC+, -0.8 WAR), however he’s put collectively some torrid stretches since then. Right here’s a take a look at his rolling 16-game wOBAs all through his profession:

By this system, Torkelson is hotter than he was in the beginning of final September, if not fairly as scorching as he was in late August of 2023, however he’s off to a a lot better begin than in both of these two seasons. The 2023 marketing campaign is the one one during which he spent the whole yr within the majors; he hit .233/.313/.446 with 31 homers, a 108 wRC+, and 1.5 WAR. If not a tremendously spectacular efficiency in its personal proper, that no less than represented an enormous step ahead from 2022.

As we’re so typically reminded, progress in baseball is just not essentially linear. Torkelson stumbled out of the gate final yr, hitting for a 71 wRC+ in April and elevating that solely to 78 in Might. On June 3, the Tigers optioned him to Triple-A Toledo; on the time, he was hitting simply .201/.266/.330 (71 wRC+) with 4 homers in 54 video games. He spent about two and a half months down on the farm, returning to the majors on August 17, some extent at which the Tigers have been 59-64. If nothing else, he’d have one other shot on the bigs whereas the group performed out the string.

Torkelson did greater than that, hitting a good .248/.338/.444 (125 wRC+) with six homers in 151 PA the remainder of the best way. He wasn’t the group’s hottest hitter, however his efficiency helped the Tigers go a significant league greatest 27-12 over their last 39 video games, ok to grab a Wild Card berth away from the slumping Twins. For as tempting as it’s to attach that late-season enchancment to this season’s scorching begin, Torkelson has not solely made some modifications to his mechanics and method, he’s needed to reclaim his spot on the roster.

In late December, after the Tigers signed free agent Gleyber Torres, president of baseball operations Scott Harris mentioned that the group would transfer incumbent second baseman Colt Keith to first, leaving Torkelson to combat for time at first and designated hitter. Torkelson took the information in stride; as he informed reporters as soon as he arrived on the Tigers’ spring coaching facility in Lakeland, Florida, “I haven’t proven that I can play persistently and there’s individuals who have choices to make, essential choices. And I haven’t given them an actual stable perception in trusting [me] so far.”

Over the winter, Torkelson labored to be extra athletic and fewer robotic along with his swing, higher capable of regulate to pitches in numerous components of the strike zone. To the untrained eye, the modifications have been delicate. As The Athletic’s Cody Stavenhagen described them: “A extra slender stance. A change in posture with a touch of bend on the waist. A barely totally different load.”

Torkelson turned heads along with his spring coaching efficiency, overlaying the plate higher, hitting the ball more durable, and reestablishing his spot not solely on the roster however within the lineup. He even performed the outfield for the primary time as an expert, although he had achieved so for many of his highschool profession in Petaluma, California, and through his time within the Cape Cod League in 2018 and ’19; in between, he even dabbled within the outfield at Arizona State.

“It’s enjoyable to enter spring and attempt to flip it on instantly as an alternative of creating excuses. ‘Oh, it’s simply spring coaching,’” Torkelson mentioned in late March. “No, let’s lock in, let’s assault each pitch, attempt to win each single day. I believe it helped me.”

On Opening Day, Torkelson served because the Tigers’ DH (he walked 4 instances along with homering off Vesia) whereas Keith performed first base and Torres second. That configuration lasted only one extra day, as Torres strained an indirect whereas homering on March 28. Keith did many of the work on the keystone throughout Torres’ time on the injured record, with Torkelson reclaiming first base. Since Torres’ return on Friday, Keith has DHed twice, however he’s struggled to such an extent (.184/.344/.224, 84 wRC+) {that a} journey to Toledo isn’t out of the query.

As for Torkelson, it’s not that onerous to see the modifications to his setup. For the visuals, I’ve chosen three plate appearances at Comerica Park that resulted in dwelling runs to maintain the digital camera angle and outcomes constant. Right here’s a shot he hit final Might 12 off the Astros’ Seth Martinez:

And right here’s one after he returned from the minors, on August 28 off the Angels’ Griffin Canning:

Word how upright Torkelson stands earlier than each of these pitches. Now right here he’s in opposition to Carrasco on April 8, extra bent on the waist and knees:

Right here’s the side-by-side comparability:

If that visible isn’t sufficient, we now have supporting knowledge courtesy of Statcast’s new batting stance knowledge (this runs by way of Sunday):

Relative to the pitcher, Torkelson is standing practically six inches farther again within the field than final yr, and he’s about two inches farther off the plate. The place his stance angle — outlined as “the angle of a line connecting the batter’s toes, relative to a line going straight towards the pitcher ” — was two levels final yr, it has opened to 16 levels this yr. Word additionally the distinction in intercept factors, the white dots. The place Torkelson’s common contact level was 1.9 inches in entrance of the plate final yr, it’s now 2.9 inches behind the entrance of the plate this yr. He’s taking a bit longer to see the pitch, to let the ball journey, and nonetheless has the bat pace to catch up, and to hit the ball arduous.

On that time, Toreklson isn’t truly swinging fairly as arduous as prior to now. The place he averaged 73.6 mph in bat pace final yr, he’s at 73 mph this yr, and his quick swing price has dropped from 30.3% to 25.2%. To date, he’s squaring up the ball extra incessantly than in 2024 (24.4% of all swings, up from 20.5%), and his blast price is increased (13.8% of all swings, up from 9.7%).

We’re in small-sample territory for all of those numbers, so I don’t wish to put an excessive amount of inventory in them. However simply to cherrypick some pitch-type outcomes for the needs of gawking, I’ll notice that the place Torkelson hit .226 and slugged .441 in opposition to four-seam fastballs final yr, he’s hitting .444 and slugging .944 this yr, and the numbers are even sillier for sliders (.238 AVG/.413 SLG final yr, .556 AVG/1.444 SLG this yr), with a whiff price that’s dropped from 34% to 18.8%.

Take a look at how a lot more durable Torkelson is hitting the ball:

Once more, these numbers haven’t stabilized, so it’s too early to say how a lot of this can stick, however you possibly can see that Torkelson is getting way more bang for his buck. A part of that’s his excessive 62.5% pull price, up from 47.1% final yr; his pulled air price of 40% is tied for third amongst all qualifiers, proper up there with Isaac Paredes and José Ramírez, who have been respectively first and sixth final yr, and are second and sixth to date this yr, so it’s not as if the leaderboards have been turned fully the wrong way up.

For as arduous as Torkelson is hitting the ball, making contact remains to be a priority. His 29.6% strikeout price is increased than in any full season, up from 27.6% total final yr, although beneath the 32.5% mark he posted in his late-season return. He’s doing a greater job of overlaying the entire plate; the place 13 of his 16 barrels final yr got here within the horizontal center of the zone, 5 of his six this yr have been on the internal or outer thirds, and the place he didn’t homer in any respect on pitches within the higher or decrease corners of the zone (Gameday zones 1, 3, 7 and 9) in 2024, he’s checked off three of these 4 packing containers already.

Torkelson is sure to chill off in some unspecified time in the future, notably as he faces higher pitching. Even so, he’s proven that he can adapt, and his new mechanics and method give him a greater shot at dwelling as much as the excessive expectations that include being a prime choose.