Spencer Torkelson slugged his way through college, bashing baseballs all around the country with eye-popping power. All those impressive drives made the decision easy for the Detroit Tigers, who selected the Arizona State star with the No. 1 pick in the Major League Baseball amateur draft Wednesday night.
Arizona State's Spencer Torkelson bats during an NCAA college baseball game against Notre Dame in Phoenix, on Feb. 17, 2019. NEW YORK -- Spencer Torkelson slugged his way through college, bashing baseballs all around the country with eye-popping power.
"It shows the amount of respect they have for me as an athlete," a smiling Torkelson said on the MLB Network broadcast. "I'll take it and run with it. I like to label myself as a baseball player, and you give me a bat, a ball and a glove, and you know what? I'm just going to want to win." With power to all fields and a great eye at the plate, the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Torkelson established himself as college baseball's top slugger after going undrafted out of high school. He hit 54 home runs at Arizona State, two shy of the school record set by Bob Horner -- who was drafted No. 1 overall in 1978.
Manfred announced the first-round selections as usual from a podium at MLB Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. He also addressed racial injustice and the recent protests that have occurred all over the country and the world. Perhaps that contributed to a record seven straight college players being selected to begin the draft.
"We've seen the trend in this direction over the last number of years," Milwaukee scouting director Tod Johnson said after the Brewers took UCLA outfielder Garrett Mitchell at No. 20. "Those three years of development that players get when they go to college tells us a lot about them. It helps to make these decisions with more information. We have more of a statistical record for college players against quality competition.
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