Spencer Torkelson #20

Selected by the Tigers with the first overall pick of the 2020 MLB Draft out of Arizona State University (signing scout: Joey Lothrop)...Played collegiately at Arizona State University, where he was a unanimous All-American and was selected to play for the U.S. Collegiate National Team in 2018 and 2019...Finished his college career hitting .337/.463/.729 with 33 doubles 54 home runs and 130 RBI...his home run total was just two shy of tying Bob Horner’s school record...Hit 25 home runs as a freshman in 2018 and 23 as a sophomore in 2019, becoming just the third player in Pac-12 history with consecutive seasons with 20-or-more longballs...Finished his freshman season in 2018 batting .320/.440/.743 with 12 doubles, 25 home runs and 53 RBI...led the country with 25 home runs, which was one shy of the NCAA freshman record and easily surpassed the previous ASU freshman record of 11 home runs, set by Barry Bonds in 1983...Was tabbed the National Freshman of the Year by Perfect Game, the National Co-Freshman of the Year by Collegiate Baseball News, the National Freshman Hitter of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year...Graduated from Casa Grande High School, where he hit .430 with 32 doubles, 11 home runs and 99 RBI in 110 games...also maintained a 1.24 ERA in 16 career appearances on the mound, throwing 22.2 innings.

2023

Appeared in a team-high 159 games with the Tigers in 2023... Named Tiger of the Year by the Detroit chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America... Was one of four finalists for the Silver Slugger Award among American League first basemen... His 31 homers ranked tied for eighth in the American League and were the most in a season by a Tigers player since Miguel Cabrera (38) and Justin Upton (31) in 2016... Became the first player in franchise history to have 30-or-more doubles, 30-or-more homers and 90-or-more RBI in his age-23 season... Drew a career-high four walks on May 22 at Kansas City...became the first Tigers player to draw four walks in a game since J.D. Martinez on May 16, 2017 vs. Baltimore... Went 3x6 with a home run and three RBI on June 12 vs. Atlanta...had his first career walk-off hit, a single to center field in the bottom of the 10th inning...homered in the ninth inning, a two-run shot that traveled 440 feet, the longest homer of his career... Belted a game-tying solo shot in the eighth inning on June 27 at Texas...was his first career game-tying or go-ahead homer in the eighth inning-or-later... Recorded the first multi-homer game of his career on June 29 at Texas, hitting a solo homer in the fifth inning and a three-run shot in the eighth...became the youngest Tiger to have a multi-homer game since Nick Castellanos in 2015...homered in consecutive games for the third time in his career and second time this season (other, June 12-14 (Gm. 1))...went deep four times in a five-game stretch from June 27-July 2... Had his second career multi-homer game on July 18 at Kansas City, hitting a two-run homer in the first and a three-run shot in the fifth...also added a double and a career-high five RBI...became the first Tigers player age 23-or-younger to have three-or-more extra-base hits and 10-or-more total bases in a game since Nick Castellanos on Aug. 19, 2015 at Chicago (NL)... Posted the first four-hit game of his career on Aug. 12 at Boston, going 4-for-4 with a double and a solo homer...also had a four-hit game on Aug. 21 vs. Chicago (NL)... Notched his fifth multi-homer game of the season on Sept. 7 at New York (AL), blasting a pair of two-run shots...his five multi-homer performances were the most in a season by a Tigers player since Miguel Cabrera had six in 2016... Reached the 90-RBI mark on Sept. 26 vs. Kansas City...was the first Tiger with a 90-RBI season since Nick Castellanos and Justin Upton in 2017 and the first to drive in at least 90 runs in his age-23 season since Travis Fryman had 96 RBI in 1992... Blasted his 30th home run of the season on Sept. 28 vs. Kansas City...became the fourth Tiger age 23-or-younger to reach 30 homers, joining Matt Nokes, Jason Thompson and Rudy York... From June 27 to the end of the season, he was tied for the American League lead and ranked tied for sixth in the Majors with 23 home runs, while he was third in the AL with 60 RBI, tied for fifth with 41 extra-base hits and 10th with a .524 slugging percentage.

2022

Spent most of the 2022 season with the Tigers, appearing in 110 games... Made his Major League debut on April 8 vs. Chicago (AL), starting at first base...became the fourth youngest player to start at first base in a Tigers season opener at 22 years, 225 days old, trailing only George Burns (21 years, 73 days in 1914), Harry Heilmann (21 years, 253 days in 1916) and J.W. Porter (22 years, 85 days in 1955)... Recorded the first hit of his big league career on April 12 vs. Boston, hitting a double in the third inning... Hit his first Major League home run on April 13 vs. Boston, a two-run shot in the seventh inning...also added a single in the eighth inning for his first career multi-hit game... Posted the first three-hit game of his Major League career on May 30 vs. Minnesota, going 3x4 with a double...added another three-hit performance in the first game of the doubleheader on May 31 against the Twins, becoming the first Tigers rookie since 2019 to have consecutive three-plus hit games...over an 11-game stretch from May 17-31 (Game 1), he hit .371/.425/.600 with five doubles, a home run and three RBI... Had three straight multi-hit games from June 18-20, the longest streak of his rookie season... Drove in an insurance run in the ninth inning on July 7 at Chicago (AL) with a pinch-hit single...marked his first career hit in a pinch-hit situation and RBI in the ninth inning-or-later... Launched a walk-off home run for Toledo on Aug. 11 vs. Omaha... Homered in both games of the doubleheader on Oct. 4 at Seattle and finished the twin-bill 5x9 with four runs scored and three RBI...was the first Tiger to homer in both ends of a doubleheader since Jeimer Candelario on Sept. 10, 2020, at St. Louis.

2021

Saw time at three different Minor League affiliates in 2021, combining to play in 121 games between Single-A West Michigan, Double-A Erie and Triple A Toledo...Named a Tigers Organization All-Star by MiLB.com...Ranked tied for seventh among all Minor Leaguers with 91 RBI, while he was tied for ninth with 61 extra-base hits...Hit a pair of home runs and drove in six May 29 vs. Lake County...Selected High A Central Offensive Player of the Week for the week ending June 13 after hitting .550/.557/1.050 with five doubles, a triple, a home run and eight RBI...Earned Tigers Minor League Player of the Month for June after hitting .352/.441/.692 with 11 doubles, one triple, six home runs and 22 RBI in 25 games between Single-A West Michigan and Double-A Erie...Went a perfect 7-for-7 with five runs scored, a double, three home runs and six RBI in a doubleheader Aug.12 vs. Altoona...Played for Salt River in the Arizona Fall League and hit .450/.607/.550 with two doubles and three RBI in seven games...Ranked as the top prospect in the Tigers organization, the No. 5 prospect in all of baseball, the top prospect in High A Central, the No. 2 prospect in Double-A Northeast and the fifth-best prospect in Triple-A East by Baseball America...also rated as the best hitter for average and the best power hitter in the Tigers system.

2021

Spent the entire 2020 season at the club’s Alternate Training Site in Toledo...Ranked as the top prospect in the Tigers organization by Baseball America.