It was an exciting weekend for the Detroit Tigers, who won a couple of games against the New York Yankees, including a walk-off victory during the Major League Baseball Little League Classic.
More importantly, the first win featured the return of Spencer Torkelson. How he performs in the coming weeks could greatly impact how much longer Detroit stays mediocre.
The Tigers haven’t made the postseason since 2014, which is the longest current drought in baseball, tied with the Los Angeles Angels. The team’s rebuild has dragged on due to various issues, including not finding standout players when they traded Justin Verlander in 2017.
Since then, Detroit has had the No. 1 overall pick in the draft twice, but neither pick has significantly changed the team’s situation.
In 2018, they chose Casey Mize, who has a record of 9-19 with a 4.28 ERA in 55 career starts. He has been worth 3.5 wins above replacement according to Baseball Reference.
In contrast, Paul Skenes has already been worth more WAR in just over three months with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In 2020, the Tigers picked Torkelson, who showed promise by hitting 31 home runs in 2023. However, he struggled so much the following year that he was sent down to the minors in early June. He returned and had a double and a triple in Saturday’s game.
Detroit is currently three games under .500, and it’s easy to see how much better they could be if Mize and Torkelson performed like recent No. 1 overall picks such as Skenes, Adley Rutschman, and Royce Lewis.
After choosing not to trade Cy Young contender Tarik Skubal at the deadline, the Tigers have a shot at being relevant in 2025.
The question now is whether they can improve one of the weakest offenses in the game, and more production from Torkelson would be a big boost.
