Detroit – Hardly a game goes by when Spencer Torkelson doesn’t scoop an errant throw out of the dirt at first base, preserving an out and preventing a throwing error for one of the other infielders.
Nobody in baseball, per Sports Info Solutions, digs balls out of the dirt more successfully than Torkelson does.
We see him often smoothly backhand a ground ball and in one fluid motion make an accurate throw to get a force out at second base. He did it gracefully in the sixth inning Wednesday starting and finishing a 3-6-3 double-play against the Royals’ speedy third baseman Maikel Garcia.
We’ve seen him run down foul balls, making over the shoulder catches with his back to the infield – a play that gave him trouble at times early last season.
To the eye test, Torkelson looks like a solid to good defender at first base.
The metrics, however, see him differently.
Both FanGraphs and Sports Info Solutions (SIS) – even factoring in his scoop-ability – grade Torkelson among the worst fielding first basemen.
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“I don’t understand it all,” Torkelson said when asked he understood why he graded out as poorly as he does. “It’s strange. If you figure it out, let me know. I just try to catch every ball. That’s my job. At least that’s my understanding of the position.”
You can’t blame him for being salty on the topic. First of all, his primary job is to hit the baseball and he is second on the team in homers and RBI and leads the team with 17 doubles.
And not for nothing, he’s only made three errors all season, in 577 chances. He’s easily saved 10 times that number across the diamond with his picks at the bag. But although scoops are factored into the defensive algorithms for first basemen, they don’t weigh that heavily.
Because scooping a baseball is so germane to playing the position, most who play it at the big-league level are very adept at scooping the ball. So how much value can you attach to exceptional throw-handling when everybody else is really good?
As it turns out, FanGraphs and SIS factor it in, but far less than they do turning batted ball opportunities into outs.
On FanGraphs, Torkelson grades out next to last with a minus-5 in outs above average. SIS, using a plus-minus system, rates him minus-7 runs saved over average. As a frame of reference, Arizona’s Christian Walker grades out the best with a plus-7 outs above average.
Only Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. (minus-8) grades out worse the Torkelson on FanGraphs. Per SIS, Torkelson’s minus-4 in defensive runs saved is better only than Boston’s Triston Casas (minus-5).
“I don’t look at it a ton metrically,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. “For me, Tork is super valuable on balls in the dirt and picks around the base and the freedom that he throws with. There’s some mistakes in there, but overall, I think it’s just a work in progress in terms of reading different balls and different angles and different plays.”
To keep all defensive metrics in perspective, they typically fluctuate wildly through the course of a season. Like a relief pitcher who has one blow-up inning, Torkelson’s numbers presently are being skewed by two rough defensive series, both against the White Sox.
He especially struggled at Guaranteed Rate Field, whiffing on three ground balls and charged with one error.
Side note: Tork is not the first or last visiting infielder to struggle at Guaranteed Rate Field. The infield dirt is the hardest in the American League. The head grounds keeper, Roger Bossard, known as the “Sodfather,” decorates the infield dirt with spirals of Quick Dry, which is primarily used to soak up water and puddles.
It looks beautiful, but when it dries, it hardens making it feel like you’re fielding ground balls off a blacktop.
Overall, though, Torkelson’s biggest issue, at least as it’s broken down by SIS, is on balls hit to his right, going to his backhand. He’s a minus-4 on those. He’s a minus-3 on balls hit at him and zero on balls to his left. His overall range is scored a minus-5.
Check back in a month. There’s a good chance those numbers will be better across the board.
“From the eye test,” Hinch said, “there’s some good and there’s some bad.”
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky
ON DECK
Twins at Tigers
Series: Three games at Comerica Park
First pitch: Friday – 6:40 p.m.; Saturday – 7:15 p.m.; Sunday – 1:40 p.m.
TV/radio: Friday – Bally Sports Detroit, 97.1; Saturday – Fox, 97.1; Sunday — Bally Sports Detroit, 97.1.
Probables: Friday – RHP Kenta Maeda (0-4, 9.00) vs. LHP Joey Wentz (1-7, 6.82); Saturday – TBA vs. RHP Reese Olson (0-2, 5.59); Sunday – TBA vs. RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-5, 4.00).
Maeda, Twins: This will be his first start back after missing nearly two months with a triceps injury. He made his last big-league start on April 26 against the Yankees and it was a disaster (10 runs allowed in three innings). He made four rehab starts at Triple-A St. Paul and allowed just three runs in 13.1 innings with 17 strikeouts and five walks.
Wentz, Tigers: He’s been lights out in his last two outings, allowing just four runs in 10.1 innings with 13 strikeouts and three walks. He held opponents to an .088 batting average in those two games. The last was against the Twins in Minnesota Saturday and he struck out a career-high nine, expertly keeping the hitters off-balance mixing changeups and curveballs off his 93-95 mph four-seamer.