LAKELAND, Fla. -- A.J. Hinch didn’t want a discussion on defensive metrics for Kevin McGonigle on a Sunday morning. He wanted to see plays.
“Watch him play,” the Tigers manager said. “And then watch him grow.”
A few hours later, McGonigle was fun to watch in the field. And as he turned plays behind Tigers starter Tarik Skubal, from double plays in the first and second innings to a difficult out on a ground ball tailing away from him in the third inning, he looked like a young player who’s capable of handling shortstop in the big leagues.
“The game is played on the field,” Hinch continued, “so I don’t get caught up in comparisons on eye test versus metrics. I think we need to make the plays we’re supposed to make, and he does a really good job of putting himself in a good position.”
Or, as Skubal put it, “He’s a helluva player.”
All three plays required different skills. The first-inning double play started with him gathering a Daulton Varsho grounder and making an instant decision whether he should flip the ball to Gleyber Torres racing to cover the second, or just get to the bag himself. He chose the latter, scrambled to the bag and made a quick but smooth throw to first to beat Varsho.
“Right when that ball was hit, I knew I had a good chance to go get it myself, knowing the runner at the plate is pretty quick,” McGonigle said. “I knew Gleyber was shifted over a little bit; we were all in a little shift. So my mindset right when the ball is hit is to field and go right to second base. If he would’ve beat me there, I would’ve flipped it to him.”
An inning later, McGonigle sprinted over from shortstop to give Torres an easy target to flip on Arjun Nimmala’s grounder to Torres’ left. McGonigle took the ball in mid-stride, stepped on the bag, dug the ball out of his glove and fired to first, all on the run, just in time to beat Nimmala.
McGonigle’s toughest play of the day was worth only one out, but it showed off his range. Varsho’s squib grounder to the left side was spinning away from McGonigle, who dashed to get on the other side of it so he could unleash a strong throw to get Varsho again, this time for the second out of the third inning.
“That’s a helluva play, too,” Skubal said, “because that ball kind of fisted. Those are tough plays.”
Said McGonigle: “I saw it was kind of an inside-out swing, and it wasn’t hit very hard, so I knew I would have to either go backhand, but I chose to go around it and gain ground on the ball and I was able to get it over there.”
McGonigle’s catch of a Jesús Sánchez pop-up near third base ended Skubal’s outing.
“Of the nine outs, I think he was responsible for six of them,” Skubal calculated.
When Skubal is at the top of his game, infielders can sometimes feel like bystanders, watching a Cy Young winner collect strikeouts while being ready for the occasional contact. Sunday wasn’t one of those games for Skubal, who struggled with his command and his changeup on his way to allowing two runs on four hits in three innings.
McGonigle was ready.
“It was awesome to play behind him, but it doesn't really matter who's on the mound,” McGonigle said. “I'm always prepared for that ground ball or fly ball. Just being prepared every pitch for the ball to be hit to me is my mindset. I got some ground balls today and I was happy to make some plays.”
For someone who has been projected as a second or third baseman long term, McGonigle has done a lot to prove he can handle shortstop.
“Everybody knows the bat, right,” Skubal said. “He’s going to hit. But you get to watch the defense and you’re like, ‘Yeah, this is a complete baseball player.’ He’s just a grinder. He’s a competitor. He works his [tail] off. It’s not a surprise why he’s the player he is.”
But the best vote of confidence might have come from third-base coach and infield coach Joey Cora, who can be tough on young infielders. He met McGonigle in the dugout at inning’s end after both double plays.
“A little high five,” McGonigle said. “That’s huge for me.”