Tigers Choose Torkelson First Overall In MLB Draft

Los Angeles, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Jun, 2020 ) :American Spencer Torkelson was the top pick in Major League Baseball's 2020 entry draft on Wednesday, going first overall to four-time World Series champion Detroit Tigers.

The 20-year-old Torkelson, who plays infield for Arizona State, is primarily a first baseman but also can play third base.

A right-handed hitter, Torkelson had a .340 batting average, six homers and 11 RBIs in 17 games during the 2020 season, which was cut short because of the new coronavirus pandemic.

In three college seasons overall, he delivered a .337 batting average, a .463 on-base percentage, a .729 slugging percentage, 54 homers and 130 RBIs in 129 games.

This is the first time Detroit has had the top pick since 1997 when they chose pitcher Matt Anderson, who spent seven years as a middle reliever before retiring.

The Tigers, who won their last World Series title in 1984, struggled mightily last season, finishing with the worst record in the league with just 47 wins and 114 losses.

Commissioner Rob Manfred opened the draft broadcast with a speech in which he promised that baseball would help bring positive change in the aftermath of the protests over racism following the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.

In a show of unity, each club then displayed a "Black Lives Matter" sign before the player selections began.

MLB was criticized for initially taking nine days to respond to the Floyd's death.

Of the four major North American sports, baseball has the third highest number of black players at 8.4 percent.

Basketball has the biggest percentage of black players at 74.4 percent and hockey has the lowest with different ethnicities making up three percent. Black athletes make up 68 percent of NFL rosters.

Major League Baseball was hit by allegations of racial discrimination in 2018 when a former employee of the Seattle Mariners said general manager Jerry DiPoto had called her "a cocky Latina".

In 2004, MLB settled a lawsuit with Juri Morioka, who worked in their New York offices, after she charged them with overt racism against Asians.

Morioka, of Japan, said she was fired unjustly and the case was covered up with then league vice-president of labour relations Manfred describing her as a "disgruntled employee".