5 things to know about new Mud Hens star Spencer Torkelson

Aug. 16—Rated as the Detroit Tigers No. 1 prospect and No. 2 overall for Major League Baseball, Spencer Torkelson has earned his way to a promotion to Triple-A.

The first baseman/ third baseman compiled a .263 batting average, .373 on-base percentage, a .560 slugging rate, and a .933 on-base plus slugging percentage in 50 games for the Double-A Erie Seawolves. He began the season with High-A West Michigan, but his 14 home runs for Erie slated him in a seven-way tie for 12th place amongst the Double-A Northwest Division.

Torkelson will join Triple-A Toledo as the Mud Hens battle for first place in the Triple-A East Midwest Division.

Here are five things to know about Torkelson:

He went undrafted out of high school

A native of Petaluma, Calif., Torkelson was the No. 2 rated third baseman in the state and No. 32 overall player out of California. In 110 varsity games for Casa Grande High School, Torkelson hit to a .430 batting average with 11 home runs and 99 runs batted in.

Despite his highly-rated status, Torkelson went undrafted out of high school in the 40-round 2017 draft. He's the first college position player to go from undrafted out of high school to first overall in the MLB draft since 1995.

He broke Barry Bonds' freshman home run record

Torkelson jumped into the national spotlight as a freshman with the Arizona State Sun Devils. He surpassed Barry Bonds' record for home runs in a freshman season (11) by more than doubling Bonds' total with 25.

His 25 home runs — two more than any other player in Division 1 — led the nation during the college baseball regular season and was one shy of the NCAA freshman record. Torkelson's dominant freshman performance earned him Perfect Game's National Freshman of the Year honor and All-America accolades from the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, Baseball America, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, and Perfect Game.

He homered in every Pac-12 ballpark

Torkelson launched a home run in each Pac-12 programs' ballpark by his second collegiate season. He accomplished that feat as a sophomore against the University of California-Berkeley.

He was the conference's home run leader in back-to-back seasons (2018, 2019) for the first time since Oregon State and New York Mets outfielder Michael Conforto accomplished it in 2012 and 2013.

He's only the third player in PAC-12 history to reach 20 or more home runs in back-to-back seasons.

He was the first third baseman to be drafted first overall since Pat Burrell in 1998

Torkelson logged 121 games at first base in college, but when the Detroit Tigers selected him first overall in the 2020 draft, he was announced as a third baseman. He became the first third baseman to be drafted at No. 1 since two-time World Series champ Pat Burrell in 1998.

In his first professional season, Torkelson has split time between first (15 games at High-A West Michigan and 23 at Double-A Erie) and third (16 at High-A and 23 at Double-A).

Torkelson also started at third base for the American League in the 2020 MLB Future's Game.

His mom is the CFO for chef Guy Fieri

When Torkelson was drafted by the Tigers, he received a shout out from Food Network's Guy Fieri, who's known the Tigers top prospect for several years. Torkelson's Mom, Lori, is the chief financial officer for Fieri.

Congrats @spennyt! Keep krushin' it brutha! https://t.co/E98BfohiM2

— Guy Fieri (@GuyFieri) June 10, 2020

Fieri is the host of two Food Network shows — Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives and Guy's Grocery Games — as well as the co-owner of three restaurants in California.