The Next Breakout Star in Major League Baseball

The Next Breakout Star

Stadium and Bally Sports national MLB insider Russell Dorsey writes in today’s newsletter about the American League’s next breakout star.

When you’re ranked as the best prospect in all of baseball for two years and break camp with the big league club, it’s hard to imagine things not going your way. But for first baseman Spencer Torkelson, there was nothing that went his way.

Unlike fellow phenoms Julio Rodriguez, Bobby Witt Jr. and Michael Harris II, Torkelson’s meteoric rise through the minor leagues came to a screeching halt last season.

The Tigers didn’t perform well overall, but one of the biggest disappointments in 2022 was the lost season for their top prospect. Not only did Torkelson struggle; he struggled so badly that he forced Detroit to send him down to Triple-A, where he had to start from scratch and find his swing again. After a month of tweaking, he returned to finish the final month of the season with the Tigers.

So what should give Tigers fans hope that their once heralded prospect can turn things around? You have to start with the obvious first. Things can’t get much worse for Torkelson than they did last season.

The former No. 1 overall pick has always been an above-average hitter, and while the learning curve in the Majors can be steep when it comes to hitting, the cream often rises to the top. Torkelson has never been an all-or-nothing type of hitter. Yes, he has plenty of plus power, but his ability to hit to all fields is what made him one of the best hitters collegiately and in the Minors.

During his stint in the minor leagues last season, while there were moments of struggles, Torkelson never stopped being able to control the strike zone, enabling him to walk almost as much as he struck out. This can be one of the hardest challenges for young players, especially when they’re struggling.

Going into this season, the pressure of performing as a rookie is gone and last year’s struggles are behind him. While there will always be pressure for a former No. 1 overall pick, he benefits from playing in a market where there are very low expectations. There are also several examples around MLB of players who struggled in their first season and exploded when given a second opportunity like Austin Riley.

Torkelson will get every opportunity to get things right, and with his tools and a clean slate, don’t be shocked to see some fireworks coming out of Detroit this season.

The Underdogs

While Russell wrote about an under-the-radar MLB player who’s ready to break out this season, we’ll pick things up with a different kind of underdog in the NFL.

The odds for Super Bowl LVII were released moments after the Chiefs ousted the Bengals on Sunday night, and the Chiefs were the early favorites. But by Monday morning, so much money had come in on the Eagles that Philly is now a two-point favorite. Patrick Mahomes is about to play in his third Super Bowl in five seasons. Are we really gonna make him an underdog?

While smart money says you should never bet against Mahomes, there’s a tantalizing argument on the other side. We’ve seen it year after year since Jalen Hurts appeared on the national stage: If you bet against him, you will lose.

Whether it was at Alabama, Oklahoma, or in his three NFL seasons, Hurts has been doubted every step of the way. Now he’s leading the favored Eagles in the Super Bowl. Are you really gonna bet against him?

Brad Evans knows which side he’s taking. Who are you betting on: Chiefs or Eagles?

On a Roll

This year’s Tennessee men’s basketball team is a prototypical Rick Barnes unit: “They’re tougher than a $2 steak,” as Doug Gottlieb puts it. Having won nine of their last 10 games, they’re on a roll and now ranked second in the nation.

But while Barnes’ reputation helps illuminate just how well-coached this group is, he also carries the stigma of a lack of success in March. Tennessee has advanced to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament just once under Barnes.

Is this the year Barnes changes things in Knoxville? Can Zakai Zeigler be “that dude”? Just how high is the Volunteers’ ceiling this year?