Spencer Torkelson One Home Run Away From Joining Exclusive Tigers Club Before Age 27

Spencer Torkelson is aiming to become just the seventh player in Detroit Tigers history to accomplish an impressive milestone before turning 27 years old.

Are you familiar with the meme of the girl looking disgusted, then thinking maybe it's not so bad, then back to a disgusted look, followed by another intrigued expression?

Well, that's pretty much what it's been like for Tigers fans over the last five years whenever the name Spencer Torkelson comes up.

Drafted with the No. 1 overall pick by the Detroit Tigers in the 2020 MLB Draft, the buzz surrounding the power-hitting corner infielder was palpable throughout Detroit. At the time, the Tigers hadn't played meaningful winning baseball in what felt like forever, making the success of the early 2010s seem more like a distant dream than reality.

Then came Torkelson, the player many believed was destined to help change the course of Tigers history.

His rookie season got off to a slow start, but during his sophomore campaign he found his footing late in the year, finishing with 31 home runs and a .233 batting average. Then came Year 3, when Torkelson experienced a regression that no player wants to endure. His struggles became so severe that he was sent back to the minor leagues and never truly rediscovered the form he showed during his second season.

Last year, however, the roller coaster climbed back up. Torkelson once again finished with 31 home runs while raising his batting average to .240. Although the strikeout totals remained higher than anyone would have liked, the power had clearly returned.

That was followed this season by yet another mini roller coaster.

Outside of one incredible stretch in which he launched seven home runs in a single week, Torkelson's at-bats were difficult to watch for much of the early season. But once June arrived—and the Tigers' offense finally remembered how to hit—Torkelson once again found his rhythm.

Now sitting second on the team with 19 home runs, trailing Dillon Dingler's 23, Torkelson is on the verge of becoming just the seventh player in Tigers history, dating back to 1900, to record both 100 career home runs and 500 career hits before turning 27 years old.

The six players who have already accomplished the feat are:

Before we get back to Torkelson, can we all take a second to appreciate just how absurd Al Kaline's numbers are?

Before turning 27 years old, Kaline had already collected 1,390 hits—nearly double the total of the second player on the list, Willie Horton. That's a number that almost doesn't seem real.

Hopefully this exclusive under-27 club will soon have room for one more member.

Torkelson enters the stretch run sitting on 99 career home runs and 496 career hits through four and a half seasons. That leaves him needing just one home run and four hits to join a list filled with some of the greatest players ever to wear the Old English "D."

With more than a month remaining before his Aug. 26 birthday, there's a very real chance Torkelson reaches both milestones in the coming weeks.

So, amidst the never-ending conversation that has surrounded him for nearly five seasons about what kind of player Spencer Torkelson truly is, one thing remains clear—his career has been anything but ordinary.

He's gone from one of the worst hitters in baseball with the bases loaded to one of Detroit's most productive hitters with runners in scoring position. He's mashed 30-plus home runs twice, been demoted to the minors, battled inconsistency, and continued to leave fans wondering exactly who the real Spencer Torkelson is.

Confusing? Absolutely.

Frustrating? At times.

Perplexing? Without question.

But if Torkelson can collect four more hits and one more home run before turning 27, he'll add his name alongside six Tigers legends, becoming just the seventh player in franchise history to reach both 500 career hits and 100 career home runs before his 27th birthday. For a player whose career has been defined by ups and downs, it would be another fascinating chapter in one of the more unpredictable careers Tigers fans have watched in recent memory.