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Life without Spencer Torkelson is lonely for Tigers' Riley Greene: 'He's going to be back'
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- Life without Spencer Torkelson is lonely for Tigers' Riley Greene: 'He's going to be back'
ARLINGTON, Texas — Riley Greene didn't know what to say to Spencer Torkelson .
So he spoke from the heart.
"If you need anything, I'm here for you," Greene told Torkelson on Sunday.
Greene and Torkelson — nicknamed "Tiger Kings" by Baseball America when they were top prospects — aren't together anymore because the Detroit Tigers optioned Torkelson to the minor leagues after Sunday's game for performance reasons. Torkelson has reported to the Mud Hens ; Greene remains with the Tigers.
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They've been close friends for four years.
Detroit Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson (20) celebrates with outfielder Riley Greene (31) after scoring against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second inning at Chase Field in Phoenix on Friday, May 17, 2024.
They lived together in spring training, visited the MLB Network studios together earlier this season and spent what felt like every minute of each day together at the ballpark.
Life without Torkelson is a little bit lonely.
"I have no doubt in my mind that he's going to be back," Greene said. "He's a really good player. He's going to go down there, he's going to figure out whatever he has to figure out, and he's going to be back up. He's going to be back soon."
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Torkelson, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft, hit .201 with four home runs, 16 walks and 56 strikeouts across 54 games before the Tigers shipped him to Triple-A Toledo. He played his first game for the Mud Hens on Tuesday, going 0-for-2 with one walk before rain suspended play.
Greene, the 2019 No. 5 overall pick, can be streaky at the plate, but for the most part, he's a steady force at the top of the batting order. He is hitting .249 with 11 home runs, 33 walks and 68 strikeouts in 60 games. His homer total is tied for 14th in the American League.
Torkelson, 24, has a career .683 OPS across 1,318 plate appearances in 323 games; Greene, 23, has a career .755 OPS across 1,090 plate appearances in 252 games. Both players have been around for parts of three MLB seasons.
WHY IT HAPPENED: Tigers explain decision to demote Spencer Torkelson, hope for adjustments in Toledo
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Manager A.J. Hinch didn't address the team as a group about Torkelson's demotion.
"You don't have to tiptoe around decisions like this," Hinch said. "Everybody realizes that things like this are going to happen, and we have to make decisions along the way. The opportunities that we gave him to try to get through it at the major-league level, I think it made sense to everybody. There's no reason to address a team on this or anything of that nature."
Parker Meadows of the Detroit Tigers is congratulated by Riley Greene after he scored during the first inning against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on March 30, 2024 in Chicago.
The 2024 season began with Greene surrounded by fellow young position players — Torkelson, Kerry Carpenter and Parker Meadows — in the clubhouse and in the lineup, all four of them eager to establish themselves their MLB careers. Two months later, Greene is the only member of the group in the Dallas area for the Tigers' three-game series against the Texas Rangers .
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BAD NEWS: Tigers' Kerry Carpenter has stress fracture in lower back, return unknown
Torkelson and Meadows have already been optioned to Triple-A Toledo due to their prolonged struggles on offense, while Carpenter has been placed on the injured list indefinitely with a lumbar spine stress fracture.
There isn't a timetable for Carpenter's return, but he's going to be out for a while . Down in Toledo, Meadows and Torkelson need to earn their way back to the big leagues .
"My goal is to stay healthy," said Greene, who has missed time in each of the past two seasons with injuries. "Carp is going to be back, and Tork is going to be back. We're going to be back and better than ever."
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Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Life without Spencer Torkelson lonely for Detroit Tigers' Riley Greene
