DETROIT >> You could see this coming in spring training when Spencer Torkelson showed up and started bashing baseballs all over the yard for five weeks.

It was going to be difficult, if not foolhardy, to keep his bat out of the lineup. Turns out, it’s been impossible. He’s started 22 of the Tigers’ 25 games at first base and served as the designated hitter in the other three.

And he hasn’t stopped bashing baseballs, with a .373 on-base percentage, .571 slug and a 172 OPS-plus, leading the team with seven homers and 21 RBIs.

He’s won back his first base job, plain and simple. Which has created an interesting plot twist. Torkelson and Colt Keith have, for now, flipped roles. Keith came into the season expected to be the regular first baseman and Torkelson was expected to be a right-handed bench bat, filling in at first base, designated hitter and possibly right field in a pinch.

Now Torkelson is the regular first baseman and Keith is a left-handed platoon bat, mixing in at first base, second base and designated hitter.

Keith hasn’t played a complete game since April 13 at Minnesota. He’s DH’d four times, pinch-hit four times, started but didn’t finished one game at first and another at second and on Wednesday didn’t play at all.

It’s not that he’s in the doghouse. It’s not even because he’s scuffling at the plate. And it probably won’t be this way all season. But right now, given some health concerns and the construction of the roster, Keith is the odd man out.

He’s impacted by Torkelson’s hot start. He’s impacted by the everyday stability second baseman Gleyber Torres brings to the lineup. He’s impacted by his own struggles, at the plate and in the field. And he’s impacted right now by Kerry Carpenter’s wonky right hamstring.

Carpenter dodged an IL stint, but the Tigers are still being cautious. He isn’t likely to play outfield in the series coming up against the Orioles. Which means he’s going to be the designated hitter, which means some more off-the-bench time for Keith.

It’s a challenging time for him, for sure. And getting one or two at-bats a game, pinch-hitting or being pinch-hit for, is a rough way to find a rhythm at the plate.

He’s 3 for 20 in his last 10 games with one RBI and no extra base hits. His plate discipline remains superb with a 17.9% walk rate and 19.5% chase rate — both in the top 10 percentile in baseball.

But his inability to get the ball in the air to the pull side (right field) has become a lingering issue for him, manifesting in a .219 slugging percentage (just two doubles).

Keith, still only 23, has endured similar rough patches before. Specifically last season when he soldiered through a brutal first six weeks before finding some traction. He knows how long the season is and how quickly darkness can turn to light.

You expect him to keep a positive mindset, to continue to do his work and to stay in the fight. Which he has to this point.

Some at-bats will open up for him possibly as early as next week when the Tigers play three games in Houston. Carpenter likely will get some starts, possibly two, in the smaller left field at Daikin Park (formerly Minute Maid), which would open the DH spot for Keith.

But this, for now, is his reality. He’s going to get his opportunities off the bench, or in spot starts at first or second base. The onus is on him to win back a bigger role.