SPENCER TORKELSON, LAST YEAR’S FIRST OVERALL PICK, IS ANXIOUS FOR THE REAL GAMES TO START... AND IS BAFFLED AT THE PRICES HIS TOP CARDS ARE BRINGING

BY MIKE PAYNE

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Spencer Torkelson went undrafted as a high school senior. Forty rounds. Nada.

“I HAD A LONGTIME SCOUT TELL ME HE IS THE BEST OFFENSIVE PROSPECT HE’S EVER SCOUTED.” 

– JIM CALLIS, MLB NETWORK ANALYST, ON SPENCER TORKELSON

Yet just three years later he was the first overall pick by the Detroit Tigers in the 2020 MLB Draft.

Outside of a few fall instructional league games against Toronto Blue Jays prospects on a backfield, Torkelson still hasn’t played a real professional game. Doesn’t seem to matter as one of his top cards - 2020 Bowman Chrome Draft Refractor AU/499 – saw a couple sales sneak past the four-digit mark in ungraded form in January.

“I mean . . .” Torkelson says, “that’s just crazy.”

Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t. It’s all in the belief of the player, the allure of grading and the quest to secure a Gem Mint or Pristine designation.

It’s kind of foreign to Torkelson, though. He just doesn’t follow the industry, relying instead on nuggets of information provided by his team at the Boras Corporation. Sometimes he’s tagged on a Twitter or Instagram post from a fan or follower detailing a big sale. He appreciates it. He just doesn’t know what to make of it.