Detroit Tigers Promote Petaluma's Torkelson To Double-A Erie

ERIE, PA —Petaluma-native Spencer Torkelson got his first hits in Double-A baseball Wednesday in his second game since the Detroit Tigers promoted him to the Erie SeaWolves from Class A West Michigan.

Torkelson, who was the No. 1 overall pick out of Arizona State in last year's MLB Draft, went 2-for-4 with two RBI's in the SeaWolves' 4-2 loss to the Altoona Curve on Wednesday.

In his first three games since being promoted on Sunday, the former Casa Grande High School star made three starts at third base for the SeaWolves, went 2-for-11 at the plate, knocked in two runs and walked twice.

After a bit of a slow start at West Michigan, the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Torkelson had put things together for the High-A squad, and he was hitting .312, with five homers and 28 RBIs at the time of his promotion.

According to Detroit Tigers reporter Brandon Day, of BlessYouBoys.com, the organization had some jitters when the 21-year-old Torkelson struggled during spring camp, and then during the first two weeks of the season at West Michigan.

Torkelson, who is listed as the Tigers' No. 1 prospect and the No. 3 overall prospect on MLB Pipeline's Top 100, went just 9-for-50 with two extra-base hits during the first two weeks of the season.

But, according to MLB.com's Jason Beck, Torkelson began centering pitches, and heated up quickly. One highlight came on June 3, when Torkelson hit a 442-foot "majestic Tork Bomb" to straightaway center against the Great Lakes Loons in Midland, Michigan.

Torkelson and fellow prospect Dillon Dingler were promoted together from West Michigan to Erie.

"We're very excited about Dingler and Torkelson at this point," Detroit Tiger General Manager Al Avila told the Detroit Free Press on Saturday. "They were struggling, in particular Torkelson. Now he's bounced back and showing why he was the first pick and Dingler was our second pick."

Torkelson was a three-sport star at Casa Grande, but wasn't drafted by Major League Baseball out of high school. However, he burst upon the scene as a college freshman in 2018, batting .320 and hitting 25 home runs, breaking Barry Bonds' freshman home run record at Arizona State. He was named National Co-Freshman of the Year by the Collegiate Baseball News.

Torkelson hit 23 more home runs as a sophomore in 2019, but the 2020 college season was cut short by the pandemic.