Tigers Sign Top Draft Pick Torkelson

The Tigers are hoping quality will outweigh quantity in this year’s draft.   After all, the draft was trimmed from 40 rounds to just five.  The Tigers were able to pick six players, including the very first pick overall.   As of today, they’ve signed all six, including top pick Spencer Torkelson.  The power-hitting corner infielder went to Arizona State University.  The video shows him breaking the ASU freshman home run record of his boyhood idol, Barry Bonds.  Torkelson has been added to the Tigers’ player pool for 2020 Summer Camp.

Torkelson, 20, established himself as one of the top hitters in NCAA history over his two-plus seasons as a Sun Devil, batting a combined .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 of 56 homers. Torkelson was a unanimous All-American and was selected to play for the U.S. Collegiate National Team in 2018 and 2019.

Belting 25 home runs as a freshman in 2018 and 23 as a sophomore in 2019, Torkelson became just the third player in Pac-12 history to have consecutive seasons with 25-or-more long balls. If he had hit 25-or-more home runs in his junior season, Torkelson would have cracked the NCAA top-10 all-time leaderboard, a feat accomplished by just one player since 2000.

Torkelson hit .340/.598/.780 with four doubles, six home runs, and 11 RBI in 17 games during his abbreviated junior season.

Torkelson put together one of the best freshman seasons in college baseball history in 2018, batting .320/.440/.743 with 12 doubles, 25 home runs, and 53 RBI. Torkelson led the country with 25 home runs, which were two more than any other player and just one shy of the NCAA freshman record.

A native of Petaluma, CA, Torkelson was a four-year varsity starter at Casa Grande High School, hitting .430 with 32 doubles, 11 home runs and 99 RBI in 110 games. He also maintained a 1.24 ERA in 16 career appearances on the mound, throwing 22.2 innings.

Don’t expect to see him on the mound anytime soon.