Tigers' McGonigle stays hot in Fall League, caps four-hit afternoon with extra-inning homer

From Bryce Harper to Mike Trout to Ronald Acuña Jr., the Arizona Fall League has produced dozens of MLB All-Stars. Kevin McGonigle might be the next.

The No. 2 prospect in baseball tore up the Minor Leagues this summer, and the change of scenery hasn’t slowed him down in the slightest.

Heating up after a slow start in Fall League play, McGonigle hit a go-ahead homer in the 10th inning to cap a four-hit afternoon in Scottsdale’s 5-4 win at Salt River. The 21-year-old notched his third multihit performance in four games and his fifth in 10 contests overall.

The big fly, which came on a 99.4 mph fastball from Phillies right-hander Najer Victor, left McGonigle’s bat at 107.2 mph and traveled 424 feet, clearing the center-field wall. It was the Tigers’ top prospect’s second roundtripper in as many games and raised his OPS to 1.149.

The four-hit day also extended McGonigle’s hit streak to four games, during which the 2023 No. 37 overall pick is slashing .529/.579/.941 with three extra-base hits and six RBIs.

Through his first 10 games in the desert, the Pennsylvania native has firmly placed his name among the league’s statistical leaders. McGonigle ranks fifth in OPS, sixth in batting average (.378), seventh in on-base percentage (.500) and fifth in slugging (.649) while accumulating four doubles and two roundtrippers.

If you look at McGonigle’s track record, the eye-popping offensive output is par for the course. Across three levels in 2025, he paced all Tigers prospects with a .991 OPS while slugging 19 homers. His 70-grade hit tool, a designation once held by former No. 1 prospects Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Jackson Holliday, is the best on the Top 100 list.

The hit tool accounts for multiple factors when it comes to performance at the dish. McGonigle is particularly adept when it comes to his bat-to-ball skills and plate discipline. During the Minor League season, McGonigle struck out just 46 times in 397 plate appearances, resulting in a strikeout percentage of 11.6.

In the Majors this past season, only eight hitters had a better strikeout percentage than McGonigle’s, a list that includes contact gurus Luis Arraez, Jacob Wilson and Steven Kwan as well as bona fide superstars José Ramírez and Mookie Betts.

In other words, McGonigle is a tough out. And he’s showing it this fall.