Spencer Torkelson's Opening Day performance gives Tigers fans hope for 2025

Spencer Torkelson might've had a standout spring training that allowed him to survive the Tigers' many, many roster cuts in the lead-up to the season, but there was still a lot of fair skepticism as to how he'd launch a full comeback with Detroit in 2025. Patience with Torkelson was waning, both in the fanbase and in the organization, and this season felt like the team giving him his last chance.

He was in the Opening Day lineup on Thursday as Detroit's DH instead of Kerry Carpenter, almost certainly because the Tigers were facing lefty Blake Snell, and there's a desperate shortage of righties on the roster. This was Torkelson's chance to make a big first impression in his first game back.

And he did. Last year, especially before he was demoted, Torkelson logged a career-low walk rate and career-high strikeout rate as his desperation to just get the bat to the ball increased. But on Opening Day, he stepped up to the plate three times in the second, fourth, and fifth innings, and he walked each time.

In the top of the seventh, with the Tigers trailing by two, he absolutely crushed a fastball in from reliever Alex Vesia — it left the bat at 108.5 MPH and traveled 423 feet into left field. He capped off his night with another walk in the top of the ninth.

Per Sarah Langs, Torkelson's four walks tied for the most on Opening Day since 1901, but he's the first player to also hit a homer alongside those free passes.

Spencer Torkelson had a perfect night for Tigers in season debut against Dodgers

New additions Gleyber Torres and Manuel Margot also had respectable nights, as did pinch hitter Zach McKinstry and stopgap center fielder Ryan Kreidler, but Torkelson was, by far, the Tigers' player of the game.

The ESPN broadcast even dedicated more TV time to breaking down Torkelson's swing on his home run than they did for any of the three Dodgers (Tommy Edman, Teoscar Hernández, and Shohei Ohtani), all of whom also homered.

It's only one game, of course, but Torkelson was also facing one of the most formidable pitching staffs in baseball and managed to not only wait to see a pitch he really liked, but jumped on ones that he did. If he can keep this up, then he could be fighting his way into a more regular role again and give the Tigers some reason to reconsider pushing him off of first base to accommodate Gleyber Torres at second.

The Tigers need more power in the lineup desperately, and if Torkelson is finally getting back to a place where he can provide that again, then they might be in business.