Tork and Spoon

 

So the other night a legendary baseball card blogger jinxed Spencer Torkelson.

I know the blogosphere isn't what it was 10 years ago, but I think we still have a sense of each other's work, and twitter especially helps that. You know, it's always nice to interact with other bloggers on Twitter. I admittedly don't talk about cards as often as I should, as this is one of like 40 special interests for me, but it's nice interacting with people like that. But yeah, the other night, Braves-Tigers was going on, and right before one of the games Dayf opened a pack of Chronicles I think and kept pulling Spencer Torkelson cards, and went 'he hasn't really done much, but since I said that and since he's against my Braves tonight he's probably gonna catch fire now', and that's exactly what happened, Torkelson had 3 RBIs including a homer against the Braves, and contributed greatly to the Tigers' 6-5 win over Atlanta.

Now...A.), the Braves ended up winning that series, and B.) Torkelson's still only hitting .238 but...he was working on a 6 game hitting streak til today's loss against the Twins. Torkelson's stock is higher now than it was before Dayf posted that pack and said that thing.

Who says the blogosphere didn't contribute positively to society, right? I think Night Owl's getting his own commemorative stamps next month. And didn't Ben Henry get the Medal of Freedom a few years back?

Torkelson may not be, like, officially for-real for real yet, but he's on the road to improvement. He's already achieved more in terms of average and RBIs than he did in 110 games last year. Last year he had a negative WAR, he's beginning to boost his 2023 totals into the positive, and this recent stretch is helping him get there. 32 RBIs and 60 hits in 68 games isn't perfection, but it's an improvement, and for a 23-year-old that is still feeling out the cracks of playing in the majors, it's needed improvement. We've seen people like Jarred Kelenic, Carlos Rodon and Javier Baez take a few years to really feel out the MLB, and Torkelson may be one of those people. I'm not getting 'bust' vibes yet, and this week definitely helped his case out a lot, but...I guess we're gonna see as we go.

The Tigers, meanwhile, are still doing their thing. Not flying as high as they were when they came to Philly, at least having Baez and Vierling playing better, but...y'know...still not great. Two best players are currently injured, there you go. The division in general is not terrific, and they're at least staying in third and not sinking too much, but it could be a lot better. 

It'd help if Torkelson got even hotter than this, maybe then it'd be a better picture of what this team can do. I dunno if Dayf wants to pull any more of his cards though.

Coming Tomorrow- Honest to God, I thought the Cubs were gonna trade him last July. Yet he's still here.