This story was excerpted from Jason Beck's Tigers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
MINNEAPOLIS -- The latest feat from Tigers rookie Kevin McGonigle was easy to miss, especially if you tuned out after the Twins put up a four-run fifth inning on Tarik Skubal Tuesday night. But it was another sign of how advanced a hitter the Tigers have for his age.
The 21-year-old McGonigle -- baseball's No. 2 prospect -- stepped to the plate in Tuesday’s ninth inning with Javier Báez on second base against Twins reliever Eric Orze, whom he had faced a day earlier in the series opener. After taking a first-pitch strike Monday, he went after a splitter that dove out of the zone against him, grounding out to first base.
That was fresh in McGonigle’s mind as he stepped to the plate Tuesday with the hope to get on base and continue the Tigers’ rally.
“Tried to get him up [in the zone],” McGonigle said. “It was kind of hard still.”
With Orze knowing he could get McGonigle to chase a splitter, it was nearly impossible. Orze threw a first-pitch fastball just above the zone that McGonigle laid off, then Orze pounded him down. McGonigle fouled off the splitter just below the zone, then took a fastball at the knees for a 1-2 count.
With McGonigle looking to continue the at-bat and the rally, he was in protection mode.
“I was just up there battling, trying to give it all I had to put the ball in play, get on base and keep passing the stick,” McGonigle said.
Orze tried to bury a splitter and get him to chase. McGonigle did, lunging for the ball at his feet, trying to get his bat under it.
“Definitely trying to put bat on ball,” McGonigle said. “If it’s foul, it’s a win. If it’s a hit, it’s a win. If I grounded out, it’s not great.”
McGonigle looked like he was hitting a golf ball out of the rough as he reached for the splitter. He not only connected, he sent a line drive down the right-field line for an RBI double that brought the potential tying run to the plate.
The ball was six inches off the ground when McGonigle hit it. According to Statcast, it was the lowest pitch struck by a Tiger for a base hit since Harold Castro singled off a pitch .37 feet above the ground on Aug. 27, 2022, and the seventh-lowest pitch for a base hit by a Tiger in the Statcast era.
But it wasn’t just a hit; it was a line-drive double, with a 100 mph exit velocity. Of the 32 base hits in the Majors since 2020 off pitches six inches or less above the plate, McGonigle has the hardest hit by exit velo.
It wasn’t just how McGonigle swung that got him the hit, but where he was swinging. Normally, McGonigle stands with his back foot on the back edge of the box. Having seen Orze’s splitter the previous night, McGonigle moved up in the box in an effort to get his bat to the ball before it could fully break. If he hadn’t, he would’ve surely been swinging at dirt. It’s a tactic he grew accustomed to doing in the Minor Leagues against pitchers who lean on offspeed or breaking balls more than fastballs.
That type of adjustability arguably means more in the long term than the base hit.
“Next time I see him, that’s going to be the approach I have against him and other guys that throw splitters like that,” McGonigle said. “Get up in the box, maybe get to the bottom of the ball better.”