Until last week’s run of five consecutive games with a home run, Spencer Torkelson’s last homer was last Sept. 20 against the Braves (actually, then-Braves reliever Pierce Johnson, the same reliever he homered against on Sunday in Cincinnati). He also homered Sept. 19 against the Braves and starter Bryce Elder for his 30th of the season.
Torkelson also had two homers against the Braves during their visit to Comerica Park in 2023. He had homered in four of six games against Atlanta in his career.
All of which made the Tigers’ visit to Atlanta beginning Tuesday that much more intriguing. But Torkelson's home run heater ended, with the first baseman going 0-for-3 with a walk in the Tigers' 5-2 loss in the series opener.
Still, Torkelson’s five-game homer streak matched the Tigers’ franchise record, shared with Rudy York (Aug. 22-25, 1937), Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg (May 10-14, 1940), Vic Wertz (July 27-Aug. 1, 1950), Willie Horton (Aug. 29-Sept. 1, 1969) and Marcus Thames (June 13-17, 2008). A home run on Tuesday would have given Torkelson the team record on his own and would have made him the first MLB hitter with a six-game homer streak since Rafael Devers two years ago (May 15-20, 2024). Devers is the only Major Leaguer to do it since 2020.
The Major League record is eight consecutive games. Three players have done that, most recently Ken Griffey Jr. (July 20-28, 1993).
Torkelson had never played at Truist Park. The Tigers’ last visit there in June 2024 came while Torkelson was at Triple-A Toledo. They missed his bat in that three-game series, as they were held to two runs and no homers in a sweep. It plays about average for hitters by multi-year Park Factors, though top right-handed hitters Ronald Acuña Jr. and Austin Riley have certainly slugged there over the years.
The bigger challenge for Torkelson might be getting pitches he can hit out. The last two games in Cincinnati finally saw Torkelson approached as a hitter the Reds didn’t want to beat them. Reds manager Terry Francona brought in righty sweeper specialist Connor Phillips to face Torkelson on Saturday after Torkelson homered off Brady Singer earlier; Phillips struck him out on three sweepers. Francona brought in Johnson on Sunday with the same idea, but Johnson – having given up a homer to Torkelson on a curveball last September – tried to throw fastballs and paid for it.
Torkelson’s success is no secret: He’s crushing fastballs. He really has been doing so for much of the season, but last week saw him add more launch angle to already high exit velocities. He’s 5-for-12, all homers, off fastballs over the course of the streak after going 9-for-40 with two doubles off fastballs up to that point. Six of the 11 fastballs he has put in play during the streak have topped 100 mph in exit velocity, as well as two doubles on offspeed. He has not swung and missed on a four-seam fastball since the streak began.