DETROIT — Spencer Torkelson was 5 years old when Rich Hill made his Major League debut in 2005. He was born in 1999, the same year Hill was first drafted out of high school. But the Tigers first baseman will never forget the ageless Red Sox left-hander for the rest of his life after doubling against him for the first hit of his big league career.
After a string of called third strikes on the corners and no luck on balls in play, Torkelson’s first Major League hit was a stroke of fortune to end an 0-for-10 start. After watching Hill drop a 71 mph curveball in the zone for a called first strike, Torkelson caught up enough with Hill’s ensuing 89 mph fastball to hit an opposite-field line drive to right-center field. Right fielder Christian Arroyo made a diving attempt at it but only deflected it behind center fielder Kiké Hernández.
The hit had a 90 mph exit velocity, barely harder than Hill threw it, and a mere .090 expected batting average, according to Statcast.
Torkelson looked up around first base, saw the deflection and cruised into second with a smile as he signaled to the Detroit dugout. The Tigers quickly retrieved the ball, which Jeimer Candelario pretended to throw into the stands before handing to a member of the clubhouse crew.
Torkelson came around to score two batters later on a Robbie Grossman groundout and was greeted with high-fives up and down the Tigers dugout. Eric Haase gave him a bear hug as he descended the dugout steps.