Torkelson homers in another three-hit effort
The three hottest things in the universe right now seem to be the sun, molten lava and Spencer Torkelson.
Baseball's No. 3 prospect came a double shy of the cycle in his second straight three-hit game for High-A West Michigan on Friday night. Torkelson was a key cog for the Whitecaps as he drove in four and scored twice, going 3-for-3 in their win over Lansing.
Torkelson started his night off with a single in the first and it only got better from there. He tripled and scored on a groundout in his second at-bat in the fourth. It was the first triple of his professional career and his first triple in a while, as he never recorded a three-bagger in his three years at Arizona State prior to be being taken first overall in the 2020 Draft.
He then broke the game wide open in the sixth as he sent a three-run shot out to straightaway center field, turning a one-run lead into four. It was his fifth homer of the year and his second of the month. Tigers No. 4 prospect Dillon Dingler followed suit with a homer of his own right after.
Unfortunately for Torkelson, he was left on deck in the bottom of the eighth inning, robbing him of the opportunity to double and complete the cycle in his fifth plate appearance. Despite that, he lifted his OPS to 1.001, which is tops in the High-A Central.
Torkelson has had six hits in his past six at-bats, raising his season average from .263 to .307 in a matter of two days and is hitting .455 in the month of June. He has recorded at least one extra-base hit in seven of his past 10 games and is now riding a 12-game on base streak. He has tallied two or more hits in five of his past six starts.