Spencer Torkelson's insane stolen base is proof Tigers' new identity is coming together

On Tuesday night against the Blue Jays, the nearly-impossible happened: Spencer Torkelson stole a base. It was his first of the season and just the sixth of his career.

After ranking dead last in stolen bases for most of the season, the Tigers have clicked into another gear now that they have very little to lose. Entering play on Monday, they had taken 15 in their last 15 games, tied for fourth-most in MLB. They've added two more since then.

The Tigers are clearly having fun. Tork's swiped bag was just one moment in a very good night for Detroit; they beat Toronto 10-1 with a two-hit, two-RBI night for Max Clark, two hits and a homer for Torkelson, and a homer for Hao-Yu Lee (among other things).

AJ Hinch and the Tigers signaled something of a mindset shift entering September. They hit the brakes after Joey Cora left the team in July, but with the infusion of youth and speed in Clark, John Peck, and Ben Malgeri, and their distance in the Wild Card standings, they're even letting Torkelson — who has a 26th percentile sprint speed, the third-lowest on the Tigers — go wild.

Tigers' new base stealing identity is fun, but they can't let it get too out of hand

It's clear that the Tigers are playing with abandon right now. They're experimenting, they're letting themselves just have some fun playing the game while giving fans a tantalizing preview at what to expect when they get another blank slate in 2027. This is fine. It's even more than fine. It's keeping the Tigers from mathematic elimination and helping them give Wild Card-hopeful teams some grief.

We might have to temper this with some caution, though. Cora was fired for a reason, and things can't get so out of hand that the Tigers are just handing over free outs by letting guys like Torkelson or, heaven forbid, Eduardo Valencia run whenever they want to.

When they're at the their best, the Tigers have been smart baserunners, and there's no reason that can't apply to base stealing, too. Jason Benetti and Andy Dirks noted on the broadcast that pitcher Brendon Little's delivery gave a runner at first more leeway to run, and joked after Torkelson scored on a Peck single, "He must've read the scouting report."

That's exactly it, though. The Tigers can and should take calculated, examined risks. Some of their best stretches have involved some daringness. At the end of the season when they don't control their own destiny, there's no better time to start shifting back into that gear.

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