Throughout the season the CBS Sports MLB experts will bring you a weekly Batting Around roundtable breaking down pretty much anything. The latest news, a historical question, thoughts about the future of baseball, all sorts of stuff. Last week we debated the best closer in baseball. This week we're going to pick between two recent No. 1 overall picks.
Which former No. 1 pick would you rather have: Henry Davis or Spencer Torkelson?
R.J. Anderson: I suspect Torkelson will be the more popular answer here because he's had more success in the majors. For the sake of diversity, I'll say Davis. He's younger (albeit only by a few weeks); he has less service time; and he has far fewer below-average big-league plate appearances than Torkelson does. Even if you think their skill sets and chances of prolonged success moving forward are similar, I'll note that Davis has slightly more defensive versatility (in theory, anyway, he can catch and play the outfield).
Dayn Perry: I have to go Torkelson. They're of similar ages, and Torkelson has enjoyed significantly more success at the highest level than Davis has. After all, he's got a 31-homer season to his credit. I'm not sure Torkelson ever lives up to the expectations that go along with being the top overall pick, but I prefer his body of work thus far to Davis's.
Matt Snyder: I'm going Torkelson due to the power upside, as we already have seen him with a 30-plus homer season in the majors. I have to admit that what he's done in 2024 at the MLB level is a bit concerning, but sometimes a quick stint in the minors is all that is needed to get a young-ish player back on track during the course of a long and fruitful MLB career.
Mike Axisa: Torkelson has more MLB success and better underlying numbers (exit velocity, chase rate, etc.), but the right-right first base profile is rough, historically. He is three years and over 1,300 plate appearances into his career and we're still waiting for things to click. Even last year's 31-homer season came with a .313 on-base percentage and a 105 OPS+, which is just OK at first base. Davis is a passable catcher and right fielder, so he has that going for him, and he's not even 400 plate appearances into his career yet. Long-term, it doesn't look like either player will provide the impact expected from a No. 1 pick, but I'll take Davis because his positions give him a better chance to stick, and because we have a much smaller sample of him struggling against MLB pitching.
