It has been a great start to the season for the Detroit Tigers, who have exceeded expectations early on.
Coming into the year, the Tigers have new-found expectations after not only making the playoffs last campaign, but winning a series and coming within one game of making the American League Championship Series.
However, even though the team had a ton of success last season, they really played above their heads.
This winter, with an emerging young group, the front office and ownership were focused on helping them improve.
Detroit was very active in free agency, bringing in multiple veterans to help out. For the pitching staff, notable additions like Jack Flaherty gave them a front-line starter to pair with Tarik Skubal, and Tommy Kahnle has been a great weapon late in games out of the bullpen.
However, while addressing those areas improved the team, they did miss out on adding the impact right-handed bat in the middle of the lineup that they desired.
Even though Alex Bregman seemed destined to sign with the Tigers most of the winter, a homegrown talent has emerged to fill that void.
Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report recently wrote about one of the main reasons to be excited about the Tigers this year being the performance of their former top pick.
“Spencer Torkelson appeared to be a change-of-scenery candidate during Spring Training, but thus far, the Tigers are happy they held onto the former No. 1 overall pick,” he wrote.
It has been a challenging start to the career of former first overall pick Spencer Torkelson. Being drafted first obviously comes with a lot of pressure, and the 25-year-old didn’t hit the ground running in the Majors.
After a poor year in 2024, it seemed like Detroit and Torkelson were destined for a breakup. The slugger wasn’t living up to his potential and a change for both sides seemed necessary.
However, as the offseason came and went, the Tigers didn’t move Torkelson, in what has been a great decision early on.
The slugger absolutely lit it up in spring training and forced his way onto the roster for Opening Day. Since then, he hasn’t looked back.
So far in 2025, Torkelson has slashed .255/.361/.569 with eight home runs and 24 RBI. Those numbers are getting close to his totals from 2024, showing the vast improvement so far.
The emergence of the slugger as a bonafide middle of the order hitter to pair along with Riley Greene has helped propel an improved Detroit offense.
Even though it didn’t seem likely, Torkelson ended up becoming exactly what the Tigers needed to improve the team.
