Spencer Torkelson still hasn't proven enough to get back to the Tigers

One of the Tigers' demoted young players has already made his way back into the majors (and promptly got hurt in his third game back), but it wasn't Spencer Torkelson. No, Torkelson is still down chugging away in Triple-A, trying to fight his way back to Detroit.

Yet he's still not ready to come back up.

When Parker Meadows was recalled, it inevitably turned eyes back to Torkelson, who was expected to be a leader for the Tigers clubhouse in 2024 after hitting 31 homers and driving in 94 runs last season, but fell from grace this year as he struggled to keep his average above .200.

It's been a month and some change since he was demoted, and he had a pretty decent June with the Mud Hens, batting .261 with a handful of home runs. But he still struck out in more than a third of his at-bats and remains inconsistent.

After kicking off July well, with a two-hit day that included an extra base hit, Torkelson's bat went silent for his next three games. Starting on July 6, though, he started to heat up again, culminating in a four-RBI night on Wednesday.

Spencer Torkelson is enjoying a quick resurgence after a quiet start to July in Triple-A

Even during his three-game drought, Torkelson managed to get on base in two of them, with one walk on July 4 and two the next day. Patience at the plate is definitely something the Tigers want to see more from him, as he had just a 7% walk rate and 26.8% whiff rate before he was demoted, but getting back to hitting is certainly the real key here.

His homer on Wednesday was an opposite field, three-run bomb, and he also broke a seven-game home run dry spell with it.

It'll probably still be a little while before we see Torkelson back in the majors, but the Tigers have been making due with Mark Canha and Gio Urshela at first, and both are potential trade candidates for Detroit at the deadline. If one or either are dealt, then the Tigers will have a pretty desperate need for a first baseman and Torkelson is their best bet to call up again if he's back to hitting well. There's still a bit of way for him to go offensively before he can prove that he's ready to come back, but a quick turnaround from a minor slump is a good place to start.