Spencer

Torkelson

Torres has shouldered a heavy workload for the Tigers and played in both halves of Friday’s doubleheader in addition to Saturday’s contest, so he’ll get a breather in this one. Spencer Torkelson will do the same. Hao-Yu Lee will start at second base and will bat second against Guardians’ right-hander Gavin Williams.

Tokelson has been a fixture at first base for the Tigers this season, but he’ll get a breather with right-hander Tyler Glasnow on the hill for the Dodgers on Sunday afternoon. Colt Keith will start in his place and will bat second for the Tigers.

The Tigers would have been better off if he had just fanned four times. Torkelson finished the three-game series 0-for-9 with six strikeouts, leaving him at .224/.313/.411 in 496 plate appearances on the season. His strikeout rate has jumped from 26 percent last year to 31 percent right now, and he’s inching closer to becoming a non-tender candidate this winter.

Torkelson grabs a seat on the bench with Colt Keith handling the cold corner against Pittsburgh starter Carmen Mlodzinski. The 26-year-old first baseman has hit a robust .291 (30-for-103) with four homers and 20 RBI in 28 games since last month’s All-Star break.

Torkelson got the scoring started with a two-run double in the first and later added on with an RBI single in the eighth. The 26-year-old now has four straight multi-hit games to his credit, and five in his last six. Thanks to the hot stretch, his OPS (.738) is now at its highest point since the start of July.

Torkelson picked up his 500th career hit early in this one, and he later connected for his 100th career homer. The latter was a two-run shot in the eleventh that tied the game at nine, but Baltimore went on to win in 12. Torkelson’s strikeout rate sits at 31.5% through 422 plate appearances in 2026. His 20 homers are nice, but he’s been a batting average drain and doesn’t supply any speed. He’ll need to show more to close out his age-26 season if he’s going to remain an integral part of Detroit’s future.

The GIDP came against catcher Chadwick Tromp in the eighth. If the Tigers sell, one imagines Torkelson has to be very much available. He’s hitting .207/.300/.414 in 417 plate appearances, and he’s been a real asset for half of one season in the last three years. Maybe he can pull an Andrew Vaughn, but if he’s not considerably better the rest of the way, he should be a non-tender candidate.

Torkelson has homered three times in eight games since the All-Star break, but he’s hitting just .167 (5-for-30) with 11 strikeouts during that span. He’ll get a mental break after going 0-for-7 with five strikeouts in the first two games of this current series. It’ll be Colt Keith taking over at the cold corner to face Royals veteran Michael Wacha on Saturday afternoon.

Torkelson got the Tigers rolling in this one with a solo home run in the second inning. That was his 19th of the season and he was involved in rallies in the fourth and ninth innings too as Detroit pulled away from the Cubs. Despite going just 5-for-23 since the All-Star break, three of Torkelson’s hits are homers. He’s anything but consistent, but at least there’s some power in this profile.

Torkelson gave the Tigers an early 4-0 lead with a three-run blast in the first off an ineffective Grayson Rodriguez. His second homer of the game — and 18th of the season — was a solo shot in the fifth. Torkelson has provided some decent pop in 2026, but the .206 average and zero stolen bases have made that power production a little less impressive thus far.