Detroit Tigers Former First-Round Pick Must Produce To Stick Around

Will the Detroit Tigers part ways with a former first-round pick soon?

Detroit Tigers infielder Spencer Torkelson works out during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With Spring Training starting up for the Detroit Tigers, they will be focused on replicating their success from 2024.

After a great campaign, the Tigers are going to set out to meet their new and much higher expectations.

This winter, Detroit addressed a lot of areas that needed improvements.

They bolstered their pitching staff quite a bit with the additions of Jack Flaherty, Alex Cobb, and Tommy Kahnle for the bullpen. They added Gleyber Torres, which created a bit of a domino effect for another position with Colt Keith sliding to first base.

Since Keith is expected to be the starter at first, former first-overall pick Spencer Torkelson will be heading into Spring Training with his time in Detroit possibly coming to a close.

Buster Olney of ESPN.com recently spoke about first base being an interesting position to watch for the Tigers during the spring with the franchise potentially ready to go in a different direction.

“Detroit drafted Spencer Torkelson with the No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft, and after multiple attempts to establish him in the big leagues, the Tigers seem prepared to move on unless he hits this year.”

Outside of one one campaign, the slugger has never been able to get it going with the Tigers in his young career with a .221/.300 /.392 slash line, 49 home runs and 159 RBI in three seasons with the team.

The best year for the slugger came in 2023 when he slashed .233/.313/.446 with 31 home runs and 94 RBI. However, consistency has been a massive issue for the young first baseman and he is seemingly running out of opportunities in Detroit.

As Torkelson heads into Spring Training, this will be an important opportunity to prove that he deserves to be playing for the Tigers.

Keith is going to be a tough player to beat out for the starting spot heading into camp. The 23-year-old slashed .260/.309/.380 with 13 home runs and 61 RBI.

As a young player as well, there is a lot of upside for him and he could be a player that takes a significant jump forward in his sophomore year.

Since Detroit is in a win-now mode, the team is making a smart decision not to rely on the former first-overall pick to flip a switch.

Torkelson will get his chances to impress this spring, but more than likely there won’t be a starting spot for him on Opening Day.