The Detroit Tigers are off to a 6-4 start to the 2025 season, and while it’s still early, the world is taking notice of Spencer Torkelson‘s hot bat.
Torkelson went 0-4 on Monday in the Tigers’ win over the New York Yankees but is still hitting .289 with a .953 OPS. Compare that to his career averages of .224 and .702, respectively. His struggles were enough to cost him his starting job.
Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris was on MLB Network on Monday where he raved about Torkelson’s performance so far.
“This isn’t just early, batted ball luck — he’s made real tangible changes.”
Tigers President of Baseball Ops. Scott Harris talks about Spencer Torkelson’s resurgence, free agent pick ups and more.
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“We’re really excited about Tork because he attacked the offseason in a very determined way,” Harris said. “He has performed really well in the early going. He’s hitting the ball a lot harder, he’s getting to pitches that he wasn’t getting to in recent years.”
But it goes deeper than what you read in the box score. Torkelson made changes to his approach in the offseason, Harris said, and he’s reaping the rewards.
“This isn’t just early batted ball luck,” he continued. “He’s made real tangible changes. He’s a little narrower in the box, he’s much more athletic. And his swing is allowing him to translate his talent into performance at a much more consistent level.”
The finest moment of the young season so far for Torkelson came on Sunday when he hit a walk-off double to beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-3. It was his 11th hit of the season and the sixth that went for extra bases.
More importantly, it capped a three-run ninth inning to give the Tigers their third win in a row.
“We’re never out of it,” Torkelson said, via Jason Beck of MLB.com. “We feel like we have a chance as long as we keep the line moving, put together good at-bats and have a really selfless approach at the plate. I think that was the perfect example today.”
Manager AJ Hinch echoed Torkelson’s sentiment.
“It’s not easy, because I was just hoping that the guys weren’t going to try to play hero,” he said. “Just keep passing the baton, keep putting up good at-bats. Someone eventually needs to be the hero; it was Tork.”
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