Detroit Tigers' Spencer Torkelson not a rookie anymore, but troubles now stem back to then
CLEVELAND — If Spencer Torkelson finds his timing, he will be a slugger at the plate and help the Detroit Tigers win games. Finding the timing of his swing remains a work in progress despite more than 200 plate appearances between spring training and the regular season.
He continues to be late on fastballs.
It's concerning.
"Everyone has different things," said Torkelson, worth minus-0.5 fWAR in his third MLB season. "I'm just trying to start early. Some guys go off the glove break, the hand break, the leg kick. Everyone is different in how they find their timing. For me, it's starting as early as possible."
CARLOS MONARREZ: Too early for Tigers to send Spencer Torkelson to Toledo, but would probably help
Torkelson — the 2020 No. 1 overall draft pick — is hitting .221 with zero home runs, 12 walks and 34 strikeouts in 35 games, but he leads the American League with 12 doubles. The 24-year-old is a .198 hitter, still without any home runs, when expanding the results to include his 19 games in spring training, for a total of 54 games and 209 plate appearances.
"Every player goes through a time where their swing feels off or their timing isn't right," Torkelson said, "so it's how quickly can you get back to it?"
A LONG TIME COMING: After two years of waiting, Ryan Vilade finally gets first MLB hit with Tigers
The Tigers haven't talked about sending Torkelson to Triple-A Toledo for the second time in three seasons.
After all, Torkelson crushed 31 home runs last season.
"We haven't talked about it because we really want Tork to figure it out here," manager A.J. Hinch said of Torkelson, after optioning Parker Meadows to Triple-A Toledo. "He'll show flashes of it. He's got a little longer track record. He's going to get the opportunity to work himself through it. I know that's the easiest solution for a lot of people, but I don't think we're a better team, and we don't think we're a better team, considering that right now. So no, we haven't."
[ MUST LISTEN: Make"Days of Roar" your go-to Detroit Tigers podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]
Torkelson is leaning on his track record, too.
It's track record of three-and-a-half months in the 2023 season, when he hit .237 with 26 of his 31 home runs in a 97-game stretch from June 12 through Oct. 1. He has played 207 games in the other nine months of his career, hitting .213 to accompany 13 of his 39 homers in the big leagues.
His 2024 season looks a lot like his rookie campaign in 2022, specifically in the way he isn't on time for fastballs, but he has more confidence this time around as a more experienced player.
He isn't a rookie anymore.
"My rookie year, I had nothing to fall back on," said Torkelson, who owns a .689 OPS across 1,240 plate appearances in his three-year MLB career. "I didn't have any previous success in the big leagues. I questioned, 'Do I belong? Am I good enough?' And now, it's like, once I find it, it's going to be good. It's just keep grinding, keep grinding, keep on trying to find it every single day, and don't veer off the path too much."
Torkelson is hunting fastballs on the inner-half of the plate.
Opposing pitchers are taking advantage of Torkelson with an array of down-and-away pitches, targeting a part of the strike zone his grooved swing path struggles to cover, but when pitchers make mistakes by leaving those pitches over the middle, Torkelson hasn't created damage consistently.
"We preach, less than two strikes, if it's not a damage pitch, it's not really worth it to swing at it," Torkelson said, "and then when you get to two strikes, you just battle and try to maybe maneuver it the other way, but you give the pitcher credit if he can do three in a row in that same spot. Odds say that he won't, but if he does, it's the big leagues, and they get paid to do that."
UNDERSTANDING: Tigers explain decision to demote Parker Meadows, plus plan for center field
More notably, Torkelson is hitting .191 against fastballs and .194 against fastballs in the heart of the zone. His expected batting average against fastballs is .189, which means the balls in play have low exit velocities and unfavorable launch angles.
It's a timing issue.
Fixing the timing issue isn't as simple as cheating to fastballs. If Torkelson were to do that, he would be even more exposed against breaking balls and offspeed pitches. He already has a 35.4% whiff rate against breakers.
"The minute you cheat to something, it's not that," Torkelson said. "You can do it all you want in the batting cage or whatever, but you want to be adjustable to all pitches. I'm honestly getting more sliders than fastballs, but still, it's a game where you're on the fastball. It's honestly just timing. When you lose your timing, it's about getting uncomfortably early, and then you're on time. It feels like a crazy adjustment, but it's really not."
Right now, Torkelson is late on fastballs and early on everything else.
So, what's the solution?
"Start earlier," Torkelson said. "That's the biggest key."
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Spencer Torkelson's big issue: Timing on fastball
