A year to the day since he was taken with the first pick in the MLB Draft, it certainly looks like Spencer Torkelson is getting comfortable in pro ball.
Baseball’s No. 3 overall prospect doubled on a three-hit night and added two walks, reaching base five times as High-A West Michigan blanked visiting Lansing, 10-0.
Torkelson was aboard in every trip he made to the plate on Thursday night, starting with a single to left field in the first inning and a double to center in the fourth. After earning walks in the fifth and seventh, the top Tigers prospect added another single to left in the eighth.
Torkelson, who scored three runs in the West Michigan rout, continued a hot month of June with his big performance. After posting a .235/.379/.397 slash line in 19 games in May, Torkelson now boasts a .400/.561/.700 line through nine June contests. Going back to May 29, the corner infielder’s first career three-hit game, Torkelson is batting .385/.529/.769 with three homers, six doubles, nine RBIs and 10 walks against nine strikeouts in his last 11 games.
The 21-year-old has displayed an impressive command of the strike zone in his debut season, as well, earning at least one walk in 15 games this season and posting seven two-walk performances.
Taken with the first overall selection last year out of Arizona State, Torkelson is one of two 2020 Draft picks on West Michigan’s roster. Detroit’s second-round pick from last year and No. 5 prospect, catcher Dillon Dingler went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI batting behind Torkelson in the cleanup spot for the Whitecaps.