NEW YORK — Spencer Torkelson slugged his way through college, bashing baseballs all around the country with eye-popping power.

All those impressive drives made the decision easy for the Detroit Tigers, who selected the Arizona State star with the No. 1 pick in the Major League Baseball amateur draft Wednesday night.

But while Torkelson was long considered the favorite to go first overall, the surprise came when he was announced as a third baseman by Commissioner Rob Manfred. Detroit plans to move Torkelson to the hot corner from first base, where he played for the Sun Devils.

“It shows the amount of respect they have for me as an athlete,” a smiling Torkelson said on the MLB Network broadcast. “I’ll take it and run with it. I like to label myself as a baseball player, and you give me a bat, a ball and a glove, and you know what? I’m just going to want to win.”

Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad went No. 2 to Baltimore, which took Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman with the top pick a year ago.

Shortened dramatically because of the coronavirus, the draft gave fans the closest thing they’ve had to a live big league baseball event since spring training was stopped in March. It came as owners and players continue contentious labor negotiations aimed at starting an abbreviated, pandemic-delayed season this summer — likely with no crowds in ballparks.

Not long before the first pick, Manfred said there is a “100%” chance MLB will play ball this year.

After having the worst record in the majors last season, Detroit opened the draft for the second time in three years. The Tigers took Auburn right-hander Casey Mize in 2018, and now they’ve got a powerful bat that could anchor their lineup for years to go along with an arm they hope is a future ace.

With power to all fields and a great eye at the plate, the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Torkelson established himself as college baseball’s top slugger after going undrafted out of high school. He hit 54 home runs at Arizona State, two shy of the school record set by Bob Horner — who was drafted No. 1 overall in 1978.

Torkelson likely would have obliterated that mark if his college season hadn’t been halted after just 17 games because of the pandemic. The Petaluma, California, native hit .340 with six homers and 11 RBIs this year.

As the top overall pick, the slot value for his signing bonus is $8,415,300.

“We know he can play first. But our scouts strongly feel that he can play third base, and that’s our intent at this point,” Detroit general manager Al Avila said on the ESPN broadcast. “He’s exactly the type of player we hoped would be there for us to get with the top pick. Obviously, he’s one of the most productive hitters in college history.”

This year’s draft originally was scheduled to take place for the first time in Omaha, Nebraska, as a lead-in to the College World Series. Instead, the COVID-19 outbreak caused MLB to make some drastic changes, including holding the draft remotely — much like the NFL did in April — and shaving it from three days with 40 rounds to only two days and five rounds.

Manfred announced the first-round selections as usual from a podium at MLB Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. He also addressed racial injustice and the recent protests that have occurred all over the country and the world.

Executives from all 30 teams held up signs at the beginning of the broadcast that read: “Black Lives Matter. United For Change.”

The shortened — and in some cases even canceled — college and high school baseball seasons presented unique challenges for big league scouting departments, which had to rely more on video of prospects instead of attending games to help with their evaluations.

Perhaps that contributed to a record seven straight college players being selected to begin the draft.

After Torkelson and Kjerstad were picked, Miami took Minnesota right-hander Max Meyer; Kansas City selected Texas A&M lefty Asa Lacy; Toronto went with Vanderbilt shortstop Austin Martin; Seattle chose Georgia righty Emerson Hancock; and Pittsburgh picked New Mexico State shortstop Nick Gonzales.

Tennessee high school outfielder Robert Hassell ended the run on college players, going No. 8 to San Diego.

“We’ve seen the trend in this direction over the last number of years,” Milwaukee scouting director Tod Johnson said after the Brewers took UCLA outfielder Garrett Mitchell at No. 20. “Those three years of development that players get when they go to college tells us a lot about them. It helps to make these decisions with more information. We have more of a statistical record for college players against quality competition.

“All those factors I think have trended toward moving toward a more college-heavy draft.”

Florida high school outfielder Zac Veen was chosen by Colorado with the ninth pick, followed by the Los Angeles Angels selecting Louisville lefty Reid Detmers to round out the top 10.

Tampa Bay took Arizona State shortstop Alika Williams — a college teammate of Torkelson’s — with the final pick of the first night at No. 37 overall.

Rounds 2-5 will be held Thursday, for a total of 160 players selected.

Torkelson became the fourth Arizona State player selected first overall, most of any school. He joined Horner, left-hander Floyd Bannister (1976) and outfielder Rick Monday, who was the top pick in baseball’s inaugural June amateur draft in 1965.

Houston will have to wait until pick No. 72 before it makes its first selection after being stripped of its first- and second-round selections by Manfred as part of the team’s punishment for breaking rules against using electronics to steal signs during games.

Boston lost its second-round pick for violating rules against in-game use of video to identify pitch signals.

Undrafted players need to wait until Sunday before they can sign with major league teams, who can offer signing bonuses only up to $20,000 as agreed upon by Major League Baseball and the players’ association.

2020 Baseball Draft Selections

Wednesday, June 10

First Round

1. Detroit Tigers, Spencer Torkelson, 1B, Arizona St.

2. Baltimore Orioles, Heston Kjerstad, OF, Arkansas.

3. Miami Marlins, Max Meyer, RHP, Minnesota.

4. Kansas City Royals, Asa Lacy, LHP, Texas A&M.

5. Toronto Blue Jays, Austin Martin, SS, Vanderbilt.

6. Seattle Mariners, Emerson Hancock, RHP, Georgia.

7. Pittsburgh Pirates, Nick Gonzales, SS, New Mexico St.

8. San Diego Padres, Robert Hassell III, OF, Independence H.S., Thompson Station, Tenn.

9. Colorado Rockies, Zac Veen, OF, Spruce Creek H.S., Port Orange, Fla.

10. Los Angeles Angels, Reid Detmers, LHP, Louisville.

11. Chicago White Sox, Garrett Crochet, LHP, Tennessee.

12. Cincinnati Reds, Austin Hendrick, OF, West Allegheny H.S., Imperial, Pa.

13. San Francisco Giants, Patrick Bailey, C, NC State.

14. Texas Rangers, Justin Foscue, 2B, Mississippi St.

15. Philadelphia Phillies, Mick Abel, RHP, Jesuit H.S., Portland, Ore.

16. Chicago Cubs, Ed Howard, SS, Mt. Carmel H.S., Chicago, Ill.

17. Boston Red Sox, Nick Yorke, 2B, Archbishop Mitty H.S., San Jose,Calif.

18. Arizona Diamondbacks, Bryce Jarvis, RHP, Duke.

19. New York Mets, Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF, Harvard-Westlake H.S., Studio City, Calif.

20. Milwaukee Brewers, Garrett Mitchell, OF, UCLA.

21. St. Louis Cardinals, Jordan Walker, 3B, Decatur H.S., Decatur, Ga.

22. Washington Nationals, Cade Cavalli, RHP, Oklahoma.

23. Cleveland Indians, Carson Tucker, SS, Mountain Pointe H.S., Phoenix, Ariz.

24. Tampa Bay Rays, Nick Bitsko, RHP, Central Bucks East H.S., Doylestown, Pa.

25. Atlanta Braves, Jared Shuster, LHP, Wake Forest.

26. Oakland Athletics, Tyler Soderstrom, C, Turlock H.S., Calif.

27. Minnesota Twins, Aaron Sabato, 1B, North Carolina.

28. New York Yankees, Austin Wells, C, Arizona.

29. Los Angeles Dodgers, Bobby Miller, RHP, Louisville.

Competitive Balance-Round A

30. Baltimore Orioles, Jordan Westburg, SS, Mississippi St.

31. Pittsburgh Pirates, Carmen Mlodzinski, RHP, South Carolina.

32. Kansas City Royals, Nick Loftin, SS, Baylor.

33. Arizona Diamondbacks, Slade Cecconi, RHP, Miami.

34. San Diego Padres, Justin Lange, RHP, Llano H.S., Texas

35. Colorado Rockies, Drew Romo, C, The Woodlands H.S., Texas

36. Cleveland Indians, Tanner Burns, RHP, Auburn.

37. Tampa Bay Rays, Alika Williams, SS, Arizona St.

Thursday, June 11

Second round

38. Detroit Tigers, Dillon Dingler, C, Ohio St.

39. Baltimore Orioles, Hudson Haskin, OF, Tulane.

40. Miami Marlins, Daxton Fulton, LHP, Mustang H.S., Okla.

41. Kansas City Royals, Ben Hernandez, RHP, De La Salle Institute, Chicago, Ill.

42. Toronto Blue Jays, C.J. Van Eyk, RHP, Florida St.

43. Seattle Mariners, Zach DeLoach, OF, Texas A&M.

44. Pittsburgh Pirates, Jared Jones, RHP, La Mirada H.S., Calif.

45. San Diego Padres, Owen Caissie, OF, Notre Dame Catholic H.S., Burlington, Ont.

46. Colorado Rockies, Chris McMahon, RHP. Miami.

47. Chicago White Sox, Jared Kelley, RHP, Refugio H.S., Texas.

48. Cincinnati Reds, Christian Roa, RHP, Texas A&M.

49. San Francisco Giants, Casey Schmitt, 3B, San Diego St.

50. Texas Rangers, Evan Carter, OF, Elizabethton H.S., Tenn.

51. Chicago Cubs, Burl Carraway, RHP, Dallas Baptist, H.S, Texas.

52. New York Mets, J.T. Ginn, RHP, Mississippi St.

53. Milwaukee Brewers, Freddy Zamora, SS, Miami.

54. St. Louis Cardinals, Masyn Winn, SS, Kingwood H.S., Texas.

55. Washington Nationals, Cole Henry, RHP, LSU.

56. Cleveland Indians, Logan Allen, LHP, FIU.

57. Tampa Bay Rays, Ian Seymour, LHP, Virginia Tech.

58. Oakland Athletics, Jeff Criswell, RHP, Michigan.

59. Minnesota Twins, Alerick Soularie, OF, Tennessee.

60. Los Angeles Dodgers, Landon Knack, RHP, ETSU.

Competitive Balance-Round B

61. Miami Marlins, Kyle Nicolas, RHP, Ball St.

62. Detroit Tigers, Daniel Cabrera, OF, LSU.

63. St. Louis Cardinals, Tink Hence, RHP, Watson Chapel H.S., Pine Bluff, Ark.

64. Seattle Mariners, Connor Phillips, RHP, McLennan CC, Texas.

65. Cincinnati Reds, Jackson Miller, C, J.W. Mitchell H.S., New Port Richey, Fla.

66. Los Angeles Dodgers, Clayton Beeter, RHP, Texas Tech.

Second Round (Free Agent Compensation)

67. San Francisco Giants, Nick Swiney, LHP, NC State.

68. San Francisco Giants, Jimmy Glowenke, SS, Dallas Baptist.

69. New York Mets, Isaiah Greene, OF, Corona Senior H.S., Calif.

70. St. Louis Cardinals, Alec Burleson, OF, East Carolina.

71. Washington Nationals, Sammy Infante, SS, Monsignor Edward Pace H.S., Miami, Fla.

72. Houston Astros, Alex Santos II, RHP, Mt. St. Michael Academy, Bronx, N.Y.

Third Round

73. Detroit Tigers, Trei Cruz, SS, Rice.

74. Baltimore Orioles, Anthony Servideo, SS, Mississippi.

75. Miami Marlins, Zach McCambley, RHP, Coastal Carolina.

76. Kansas City Royals, Tyler Gentry, OF, Alabama.

77. Toronto Blue Jays, Trent Palmer, RHP, Jacksonville.

78. Seattle Mariners, Kaden Polcovich, 2B, Oklahoma St.

79. Pittsburgh Pirates, Nick Garcia, RHP, Chapman.

80. San Diego Padres, Cole Wilcox, RHP, Georgia.

81. Colorado Rockies, Sam Weatherly, LHP, Clemson.

82. Los Angeles Angels, David Calabrese, OF, St. Elizabeth Catholic H.S., Vaughan, Ont.

83. Chicago White Sox, Adisyn Coffey, RHP, Wabash Valley.

84. Cincinnati Reds, Bryce Bonnin, RHP, Texas Tech.

85. San Francisco Giants, Kyle Harrison, LHP, De La Salle H.S., Concord, Calif.

86. Texas Rangers, Tekoah Roby, RHP, Pine Forest H.S., Pensacola, Fla.

87. Philadelphia Phillies, Casey Martin, SS, Arkansas.

88. Chicago Cubs, Jordan Nwogu, OF, Michigan.

89. Boston Red Sox, Blaze Jordan, 3B, DeSoto H.S., Southhaven, Miss.

90. Arizona Diamondbacks, Liam Norris, LHP, Green Hope H.S., Cary, N.C.

91. New York Mets, Anthony Walters, SS, San Diego St.

92. Milwaukee Brewers, Zavier Warren, C, Cent. Michigan.

93. St. Louis Cardinals, Levi Prater, LHP, Oklahoma.

94. Washington Nationals, Holden Powell, RHP, UCLA.

95. Cleveland Indians, Petey Halpin, OF, Mira Costa H.S., Manhattan Beach, Calif.

96. Tampa Bay Rays, Hunter Barnhart, RHP, St. Joseph H.S., Santa Maria, Calif.

97. Atlanta Braves, Jessie Franklin, OF, Michigan.

98. Oakland Athletics, Michael Guldberg, OF, Georgia Tech.

99. New York Yankees, Trevor Hauver, OF/2B, Arizona St.

100. Los Angeles Dodgers, Jake Vogel, OF, Huntington Beach H.S., Calif.

101. Houston Astros, Tyler Brown, RHP, Vanderbilt.

Fourth Round

102. Detroit Tigers, Gage Workman, 3B, Arizona St.

103. Baltimore Orioles, Coby Mayo, 3B, Stoneman Douglas H.S., Parkland, Fla.

104. Miami Marlins, Jake Eder, LHP, Vanderbilt.

105. Kansas City Royals, Christian Chamberlain, LHP, Oregon St.

106. Toronto Blue Jays, Nick Frasso, RHP, Loyola Marymount.

107. Seattle Mariners, Tyler Keenan, 3B, Mississippi.

108. Pittsburgh Pirates, Jack Hartman, RHP, Appalachian St.

109. San Diego Padres, Levi Thomas, RHP, Troy.

110. Colorado Rockies, Case Williams, RHP, Douglas County H.S., Castle Rock, Colo.

111. Los Angeles Angels, Werner Blakely, SS, Detroit Edison H.S., Mich.

112. Chicago White Sox, Kade Mechals, RHP, Grand Canyon.

113. Cincinnati Reds, Mackenzie Wainwright, OF, St. Edwards H.S., Lakewood, Ohio.

114. San Francisco Giants, R.J. Dabovich, RHP, Arizona St.

115. Texas Rangers, Dylan MacLean, LHP, Central Catholic H.S., Portland, Ore.

116. Philadelphia Phillies, Carson Ragsdale, RHP, South Florida.

117. Chicago Cubs, Luke Little, LHP, San Jacinto North, Texas.

118. Boston Red Sox, Jeremy Wu-Yelland, LHP, Hawaii.

119. Arizona Diamondbacks, A.J. Vukovich, 3B, East Troy H.S., Wis.

120. New York Mets, Matthew Dyer, C, Arizona.

121. Milwaukee Brewers, Joey Wiemer, OF, Cincinnati.

122. St. Louis Cardinals, Ian Bedell, RHP, Missouri.

123. Washington Nationals, Brady Lindsly, C, Oklahoma.

124. Cleveland Indians, Milan Tolentino, SS, Santa Margarita H.S., Calif.

125. Tampa Bay Rays, Tanner Murray, SS, UC Davis.

126. Atlanta Braves, Spencer Strider, RHP, Clemson.

127. Oakland Athletics, Dane Acker, RHP, Oklahoma.

128. Minnesota Twins, Marco Raya, RHP, United South H.S., Laredo, Texas.

129. New York Yankees, Beck Way, RHP, Northwest Florida State CC.

130. Los Angeles Dodgers, Carson Taylor C, Virginia Tech.

131. Houston Astros, Zach Daniels, OF, Tennessee.

Fifth Round

132. Detroit Tigers, Colt Keith, SS, Biloxi H.S., Miss.

133. Baltimore Orioles, Carter Baumler, RHP, Dowling Catholic H.S., West Des Moines, Iowa.

134. Miami Marlins, Kyle Hurt, RHP, Southern Cal.

135. Kansas City Royals, Will Klein, RHP, E. Illinois.

136. Toronto Blue Jays, Zach Britton, OF, Louisville.

137. Seattle Mariners, Taylor Dollard, RHP, Cal Poly.

138. Pittsburgh Pirates, Logan Hofmann, RHP, Northwestern St.

139. San Diego Padres, Jagger Haynes, LHP, West Columbus H.S., Cerro Gordo, N.C.

140. Colorado Rockies, Jack Blomgren SS, Michigan.

141. Los Angeles Angels, Adam Seminaris, LHP, Long Beach St.

142. Chicago White Sox, Bailey Horn, LHP, Auburn.

143. Cincinnati Reds, Joe Boyle, RHP, Notre Dame.

144. San Francisco Giants, Ryan Murphy, RHP, Le Moyne College.

145. Texas Rangers, Thomas Saggese, SS, Carlsbad H.S., Calif.

146. Philadelphia Phillies, Baron Radcliff, OF, Georgia Tech.

147. Chicago Cubs, Koen Moreno, RHP, Panther Creek H.S., Cary, N.C.

148. Boston Red Sox, Shane Drohan, LHP, Florida St.

149. Arizona Diamondbacks, Brandon Pfaadt, RHP, Bellarmine.

150. New York Mets, Eric Orze, RHP, New Orleans.

151. Milwaukee Brewers, Hayden Cantrelle, SS, Louisiana-Lafayette

152. St. Louis Cardinals, L.J. Jones IV, OF, Long Beach St.

153. Washington Nationals, Mitchell Parker, LHP, San Jacinto North, Texas.

154. Cleveland Indians, Mason Hickman, RHP, Vanderbilt.

155. Tampa Bay Rays, Jeffrey Hakanson, RHP, UCF.

156. Atlanta Braves, Bryce Elder, RHP, Texas.

157. Oakland Athletics, Stevie Emanuels, RHP, Washington.

158. Minnesota Twins, Kala’i Rosario, OF, Waiakea H.S., Hilo, Hawaii.

159. Los Angeles Dodgers, Gavin Stone, RHP, Cent. Arkansas.

160. Houston Astros, Shay Whitcomb, SS, UC San Diego.