Spencer Torkelson and the Worst Debuts in Detroit Tigers History

Detroit Tigers fans don’t need to worry about Spencer Torkelson. Spring training doesn’t mean anything, and the jump from college baseball to the big leagues is enormous. He still has all the talent in the world, and he’s probably going to demolish minor-league pitching.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t dig into Spencer Torkelson’s spring training numbers, which are inarguably horrific. The young infielder is 1-for-27 this spring, with 4 walks and 16 strikeouts. That’s a cool .037 batting average with a 51.6% strikeout rate.

How bad is that? In 2019 there were 65 pitchers with at least 30 plate appearances. Just 14 of them had a higher strikeout rate that Torkelson does this spring, and only two had a lower batting average.

Again, none of it really matters. Spencer Torkelson still has all the skills and tools that made him our number 2 Detroit Tigers prospect, and unless every talent evaluator on the planet was wrong, he should get back to doing damage soon.

Torkelson’s struggles naturally led us to think about some of the worst debuts in Detroit Tigers history, so we’ve put together a sad little list for you. Enjoy!

Worst Detroit Tigers Debut Number 1 – Jay Sborz

Poor Jay Sborz. He was Detroit’s 2nd round pick in 2003 (the Kyle Sleeth draft) and toiled in the minors for eight long years. He struggled with injuries and wasn’t terribly effective in the minors, but everything clicked for him in 2009 when he posted 2.27 ERA across three levels. Armed with a fastball that could touch 98 MPH and an above-average curveball, Sborz seemed like he could help the Detroit Tigers. So on June 22, 2010, he was called on in the 3rd inning to provide some relief for an uncharacteristically poor Justin Verlander.

There were no outs and men on 2nd and 3rd when Jay Sborz promptly hit the first batter he faced. He then hit the next batter too, pushing a run across the plate. Sborz managed to get an RBI groundout and a strikeout, but the next three hitters all singled and he was pulled. Brad Thomas allowed a 2-run double to Ike Davis to close the book on Jay Sborz’s night, and his MLB career. He never pitched in another big-league game, so his final career stats are: 0.2 IP, 67.50 ERA, 3H, 5ER, K, 2 HBP.

Worst Detroit Tigers Debut Number 2 – Ron LeFlore

Ron LeFlore’s story is remarkable. He grew up impoverished and turned to a life of crime at an early age. LeFlore was actually introduced to baseball while incarcerated, and he tried out for the Detroit Tigers while on furlough from Jackson State Prison. He was signed to a contract and played just 134 games in the minors before being called up to the Detroit Tigers. Under the circumstanced he performed very well, hitting .260 with 11 extra-base hits and 23 steals in 59 games. That doesn’t seem like a bad debut at all, but we need to talk about his defense.

LeFlore was understandably raw, and he managed to make 11 errors in center field in just 534 innings. No other outfielder since at least 1960 has made double-digit errors in fewer than 600 innings. In fact, Vladimir Guerrero is the only other outfielder with 11 errors in fewer than 800 innings. Defense remained an issue for LeFlore, but his rough start didn’t prevent him from having a terrific career. He made the 1976 All-Star team, and he led the league in steals twice and runs scored once.

Worst Detroit Tigers Debut Number 3 – William Cuevas

The Red Sox signed William Cuevas out of Venezuela in 2008 and he eventually made his MLB debut with Boston in 2016. The Detroit Tigers signed him as a minor-league free agent late that year, and he came up for one positively Sborzian outing in 2017. Daniel Norris and the Tigers had beaten up on Trevor Bauer and Cleveland, carrying a 7-1 lead into the 9th. It seemed like a perfect time for new reliever William Cuevas to make a low-pressure debut.

He gave up a leadoff double to Francisco Lindor — no crime there — and then hit Brandon Guyer. A strikeout of Edwin Encarnacion briefly calmed the storm, but then he gave up a pair of singles and was pulled for closer Francisco Rodríguez. K-Rod proceeded to give up a grand slam, with three runs charged to Cuevas in what ended up being his only appearance with the team. His final Detroit Tigers stats: 0.1 IP, 108.00 ERA, 3H, 4ER, K, HBP.

Worst Detroit Tigers Debut Number 4 – Mike Gerber

In many ways Mike Gerber is a success story. Most 15th-round senior signs don’t last more than a year in pro ball before moving on with their lives, but Gerber quickly put up big numbers and worked his way into being one of Detroit’s top prospects. He made his MLB debut with three brief appearances in April 2018, but returned in July/August.

Gerber went 4-for-10 with a double in his first three games back with the Tigers, but then went 0-for-30 with 17 strikeouts in his final 12 games with the club. He was sent back to Toledo, then designated for assignment that winter. His final numbers with the Detroit Tigers: 18G, .095 AVG, 44.7% K rate, -0.7 bWAR

Worst Detroit Tigers Debut Number 5 – Fred Hutchinson

Usually a top prospect making his MLB debut is the biggest story in any given game, but Fred Hutchinson was deprived of the headlines in May of 1939. That’s because he debuted against a New York Yankees team playing without Lou Gehrig for the first time in 2,130 games. This only seemed to empower the Bronx Bombers, who were also without their center fielder Joe DiMaggio. They built a 12-0 lead before the 19-year-old Hutchinson debuted with two outs in the 6th.

A passed ball by catcher Birdie Tebbetts made it 13-0, but Hutchinson finished the inning with a walk and a ground out. Hutchinson came back out for the 7th and the Yankees took him behind the woodshed. His inning went: walk, double, walk, single, home run, walk, walk, fly out, single. His final line was 0.2 IP, 108.00 ERA, 4H, 8ER, 5BB. Hutchinson did go on to have a fine career as both a player and manager, at one point giving up the longest home run in Fenway Park history, and making the 1951 All-Star team, but his debut was one to forget.

Worst Detroit Tigers Debut Number 6 – Ronny Rodríguez

The Detroit Tigers were historically bad in 2018 and 2019, and Ronny Rodríguez actually brought an element of entertainment and joy to otherwise dismal seasons. He was capable of hitting the ball very hard, he had above-average speed, and he could play all over the field.

Unfortunately, Rodríguez didn’t hit the ball nearly enough, he never walked, he didn’t use his speed well on the bases, and he played poor defense. His 2018 batting line of .220/.256/.335 was good for a 57 OPS+ and he managed to hit into 7 double plays in just 206 plate appearances. The end result was a -1.4 bWAR season, tied for the worst rookie year in Detroit Tigers history.

Worst Detroit Tigers Debut Number 7 – Allan Travers

Baseball lends itself to fantasy in film. A ghost tells a man to build a baseball diamond in his corn field. A young boy breaks his arm and can suddenly throw 100 MPH. A Golden Retriever becomes the star of a little league team. A random college student gets plucked off the streets to pitch in a big-league game. Except, that last one actually happened. The story of Allan Travers is worthy of a movie, but here’s the short version.

In 1912 the famously irascible Ty Cobb took it upon himself to enter the stands and beat the tar out of a heckler. This led to his suspension, which in turn caused most of the Tigers to strike until Cobb was reinstated. American League President Ban Johnson threatened to fine Tigers owner Frank Navin $5,000 for every game the Tigers forfeited, so manager Hughie Jennings scrambled to find anyone who could play.

This is how Allan Travers, a 20-year-old assistant manager for the St. Joseph College varsity baseball team, ended up pitching in a Major League Baseball game. And the results were what you might expect. Travers pitched an 8-inning complete game, giving up 26 hits, 7 walks, 1 strikeout, and 24 runs (14 earned). He still holds the record for most earned runs allowed in a single game. Travers never played another game, and went on to become a Catholic priest.