DETROIT -- No, Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene aren’t coming to the big leagues this season.

“This season, we want them to develop fully in the Minors,” manager A.J. Hinch said, “and they’re doing a great job.”

Whether the Tigers’ top two prospects could reach Detroit’s doorstep and advance to Triple-A Toledo this year, however, is a matter of discussion.

The expectation has been for Greene and Torkelson to play out the season at Double-A Erie and wait until next year to be tested against the veteran pitching of Triple-A ball. But the more the dynamic duo hits in Erie, the closer they get to their next test.

“Any time a big-time prospect has a good week or a good game or a good stretch, there’s always this curiosity and whether or not they need to be challenged for the next level,” Hinch said.

For Greene and Torkelson, the week has been exceptional. Greene, MLB Pipeline’s No. 2 Tigers prospect and No. 13 overall prospect, entered Sunday having homered in four consecutive games while batting 16-for-34 (.471) with six homers and 17 RBIs over an eight-game stretch.

Torkelson, the No. 2 prospect on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100, went 7-for-7 with three home runs and six RBIs in a doubleheader on Thursday against Altoona, the Pirates’ Double-A affiliate. He entered Sunday batting 21-for-59 (.356) with five homers and 12 RBIs in 15 games since July 29, raising his Double-A average from .216 to .263 and his OPS from .845 to .933.

Though Torkelson and Greene are close friends and tied together as the future of the Tigers’ lineup, they do not have to advance as a tandem. Greene has been in Erie all season, while Torkelson began the year at High-A West Michigan before advancing to Erie with catcher and No. 3 Tigers prospect Dillon Dingler.

“What we really need to do is really single them out and decide what’s best for their track to Detroit,” Hinch said. “There’s been consideration to keep them in Double-A, keep them all working, playing well. They’ve got a good thing going on. [Manager] Arnie [Beyeler] is doing a great job there with that group.

“And there’s also an argument for giving them an uncomfortable setting of something new. I don’t think any decision has been made on whether that next step to Toledo is going to happen, but they’re doing great at developing and learning how to play every single day. They’ve both gone through a couple of dry spells of performance, but then come out of it and had some really good games.”

Hinch knows the tug of war involved in those decisions, having been a farm director in his career.

“Nowadays, the desire to push faster is always there,” he continued. “They’re exciting prospects that are going to get to wear a big league uniform, hopefully soon. But we’ve got to keep in mind that a true development track has them continuing with success and not just kind of responding too quickly to moving them.

“There’s no exact science … But fundamentally, they need to be able to do everything to get to the next level, and then the next level will teach something that they’ve never experienced before. Maybe it’s more offspeed pitches in Triple-A, or you start game-planning, or the lefties are a little bit better. And now you’re facing guys with Major League service time. That’s going to be new for them, eventually, in Triple-A. And then the biggest jump in the world is coming from Triple-A to the big leagues.”