Detroit — It didn’t take long for Hall of Famer Alan Trammell to see that Spencer Torkelson, whom the Tigers selected with the first overall pick Wednesday, wasn’t your ordinary, run-of-the-mill college baseball player.
He accompanied Tigers director of amateur scouting Scott Pleis on a scouting trip to Arizona in February, ostensibly to watch prospects from top programs Vanderbilt and Michigan. Mostly, though, Tigers general manager Al Avila wanted Trammell to see Arizona State’s slugging first baseman Torkelson, who the club already had flagged as the leader in the clubhouse for the first overall pick.