Detroit Tigers: An early check-in on possible first overall picks

The Arizona State University Sun Devils have a hitter who hits absolute bombs, and Spencer Torkelson might just be the player whose name gets called this June by the Detroit Tigers.

Last season, a lot of talks surrounded Arizona State for their power-hitting outfielder, Hunter Bishop, and his draft stock. In 2020, Spencer Torkelson is the name to look out for as a first baseman/outfielder who mashes baseballs.

The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Torkelson is in his junior season at Arizona State University, and the consistent theme of his time there has been… power… lots of it. Torkelson has established that he is a more promising prospect than Bishop was in his Juinor season.

In 2020, Torkelson has played in seventeen games where he has a .340/.598/.780 line with six home runs and eleven RBI. He has been walked thirty-one times and struck out fifteen times. He carries a .531 BABIP and a .440 ISO rating, which is quite impressive.

Even with only sixty-eight at-bats on the season, Torkelson is showing that his bat is more than healthy and worth consideration for the first overall pick from the Tigers. Even with fifteen strikeouts, he is patient early in the count, rarely offering at the first pitch.

When he does swing (as backed up by his BABIP), he tends to drive the ball well. Torkelson has created thirty-five balls in play (hits, outs, errors) over fifty at-bats. To keep it short and sweet, when he makes contact, it goes. Looking at the numbers, 68% of Torkelson’s balls in play are either line drives or fly balls.

With the way Torkelson has started off the season, he will remain as one of the top candidates to hear his name called by the Detroit Tigers this June.