It seemed like the obvious pick for months but it is now official as the Detroit Tigers have selected Arizona State 1B/3B Spencer Torkelson with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft.
Torkelson, who 6-2, 215 pounds, is considered the most MLB ready hitter in the draft.
In 129 games at ASU, Torkelson batted .337 with 54 home runs and 130 RBIs while walking 110 times and striking out only 104 times.
According to MLB, he slotted to make $8.42 million.
Earlier today, he spoke to Tony Paul of the Detroit News and he talked about Detroit.
“But I know Detroit is a great, storied franchise, and I know the Detroit area is beautiful. Downtown is up and coming. I’ve had people tell me how much it’s getting modernized. I know Michigan is a beautiful place.”
Here is the MLB Scouting Report:
Torkelson wasn’t drafted as a high schooler from Northern California in 2017, but made it very clear in his first year at Arizona State that he’d be someone worth talking about come 2020 by being one of the best freshman bats in the country, then went out and performed well for both USA Baseball and in the Cape Cod League. He put up more monster numbers as a sophomore before playing for Team USA again, setting the stage for him to be among the top players considered for the top of the first round.
As a right-handed first baseman who can really hit and who wasn’t drafted out of high school, Torkelson draws invariable comparisons to Andrew Vaughn, the Cal standout who was the No. 3 pick in the 2019 Draft. He controls at-bats extremely well and draws a ton of walks. He’s able to drive the ball from foul pole to foul pole and he uses the middle of the field when he’s at his best. He’s able to hit the ball out to all fields, with tremendous loft power to his pull side. He doesn’t sell out for that power, but gets to it with ease.
Defensively, he’s worked hard to improve at first and is very comfortable there. He’s taken some groundballs at third and played some left field, where he’s adequate. But it will really be his bat that has him in conversations about the first few picks in June.
Let’s hope Tork ends up being great for the Tigers!
Got our guy!
With the first pick in the 2020 #MLBDraft, the Detroit Tigers select 3B Spencer Torkelson. pic.twitter.com/mLDkooLEq6
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) June 10, 2020
