No. 1 pick Spencer Torkelson surprisingly announced as third baseman

Spencer Torkelson was drafted No. 1 overall in Wednesday’s MLB Draft. That was not surprising. But what was surprising was the announced position for the slugger.

When Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the Torkelson pick, the former Arizona State star was announced as a third baseman.

Torkelson played left field as a senior in high school, though he also played plenty of third base in high school and even pitched. He was a first baseman in college at ASU.

So what is the deal with the position announcement? It was likely done for optics.

There is some thought that you don’t get a lot of value out of right-handed hitting first basemen. But if you can get the same elevated offensive production from a player at third base, that makes the player more valuable, so the Tigers may be trying to make themselves look better on draft day even if Torkelson eventually ends up at first or left field.

The bottom line is the Tigers will probably try Torkelson at different positions — corner infield and corner outfield — and just try to let him rake. Their real priority is seeing him blossom as a hitter.

Torkelson batted .337/.463/.729 in his college career with 54 home runs in 498 career at-bats. He broke Barry Bonds’ home run record as a freshman at ASU.