I’m not sure it’s wise to put Malloy at 1B right now. Actually, it sounds pretty foolish given his resume. He’s making his MLB debut. He’s get a sketchy defensive reputation. He has hasn’t played 1B since college (2 games in 2019, 7 games in 2020). If 1B were an option, there was plenty of time to try that in Toledo. Now in Detroit isn’t the time to try it.
Maybe there is no fixing Torkelson. Maybe he will be a bust. But there’s still time to work something out with him. He’s still only 24. I think there may be something to the previous administration promoting him too early which might still have some repercussions. But who knows for sure. The only known is that it’s not working in Detroit right now. Time to work on it in Toledo and see if his potential can be realized to some material extent.