Within the past half hour, news broke that the Detroit Tigers had decided to option rookie 1B Spencer Torkelson down to Triple-A Toledo following his rough first half of the 2022 season.
Prior to the start of the season, the hope was that Torkelson would quickly find a comfort level with Major League pitching but that has not been the case.
In his first 83 games at the Major League level, Torkelson is batting just .197 with five home runs and 21 RBIs.
A.J. Hinch explains decision regarding Tigers 1B Spencer Torkelson
Less than a week ago, Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Spencer Torkelson was doing a good job keeping his head above the water.
“This is a hard game,” Hinch said. “And these pitchers are really good. I don’t know why he’s missing some over others. I just don’t look at the game that way, at those little boxes. I understand it. I know he’s had some struggles in the middle of the plate. But I’m not sure you can coach him and say, ‘Hey, hit those balls in the middle.’”
“He’s done a nice job making adjustments to allow himself to get to more pitches,” Hinch said. “He’s settled in a bit. He’s still going to have his moments. But I think he’s doing a nice job learning and growing and maturing.
“He’s keeping his head above water.”
On Sunday, Hinch explained the decision to send Spencer Torkelson down to Toledo to work out the kinks.
From Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic:
“We a have plan in place to get him some at-bats and get him back to being the offensive force that we know he’s gonna be. It’s much less spotlight to do it in Triple A than it is to continue to do this in the big leagues.”
“I told Tork it could be 10 days, it could be two weeks, could be a month. It doesn’t matter how long it takes to get him back to feeling good.”
Nation, how do you feel about the Detroit Tigers sending Spencer Torkelson down to Triple-A Toledo?
Long overdue. He needs some work down in Toledo.
Agree. Long overdue. First base is supposed to be a power hitting position. He was not hitting home runs. That .197 batting average was not up to major league standards either. my opinion.