DETROIT -- Kevin McGonigle grew up near Philadelphia idolizing Chase Utley, trying to mold his game after the former Phillies great and six-time All-Star. He now has an award Utley didn’t get.
For the first time in a decade, and just the third time in 48 years, the Tigers have a Rookie of the Year. McGonigle, whose transition from top prospect to primary shortstop defied even the loftiest of expectations, ran away with the American League award, beating out pitchers Parker Messick (Guardians) and Payton Tolle (Red Sox).
McGonigle captured 28 of 30 first-place votes from selected members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He finished second to Messick on the other two ballots.
It’s a massive tribute to McGonigle, whose combination of physical ability and mental maturity allowed him to quickly become one of the AL’s top players regardless of experience level. It’s an equally big honor for the Tigers, who have spent the past four years building around young talent since Scott Harris took over as president of baseball operations.
McGonigle is the sixth Tiger to win AL Rookie of the Year, and the first since Michael Fulmer in 2016. He’s the first Tigers infielder to win since Lou Whitaker in 1978.
McGonigle had been widely favored to win, having already won Baseball America’s MLB Rookie of the Year Award and been voted by players for The Sporting News AL Rookie of the Year and Players Choice AL Outstanding Rookie honors. He has the strength of a historic season for a 22-year-old with a sweet left-handed swing and a grinder mentality.
“What makes me most proud [is] all the work I put in just to get to this point where I’m at today,” McGonigle said Monday night on a conference call with reporters. “Obviously there’s a lot more things I want to accomplish with the team and see what else can happen further in my career. But all the hard work I put in, just to see it paying off, this is a really big moment for me.”
McGonigle led all AL players, not just rookies, with 7.1 WAR per Baseball Reference. That wasn’t a statistical quirk. McGonigle settled into an everyday role quickly thanks to the combination of his rapid adjustment to the big leagues and the Tigers’ need for stability at shortstop when Javier Báez missed three months with a right ankle sprain.
McGonigle led all AL players with 707 plate appearances, joining Cincinnati’s Sal Stewart -- who won National League Rookie of the Year later Monday -- as the first Major League rookies to top 700 plate appearances since Hanley Ramirez in 2006. McGonigle was the first to do it in his age-21 season or younger since Hall of Famer Joe Morgan in 1965.
Yet the rookie wall that hits most young players experiencing the length of a Major League season for the first time never tripped McGonigle up. His best offensive months were at the bookends. His worst month, in August, still saw him produce 19 RBIs, his best total for a month in the season.
“I think it's my mindset,” McGonigle said Monday. “You're playing as a team, and I'm trying to play my part, trying to help this team as much as I can, and I think that's what drives me every day to show up and play as hard as I can, each pitch, each at-bat. That's the first thing that goes in my mind, that on the days you're tired and the days you need a rest, you’ve just got to go out and lace the cleats up and go out for the guys in that clubhouse, in this organization.”
McGonigle never went longer than three games without a base hit. He had 14 longer hitting streaks, led by a 13-game streak in late April. He had just two streaks of consecutive games without reaching base safely: Three games in late August, and two games in late May.
“He led the American League in plate appearances and led the American League in WAR and put up one of the best rookie seasons, certainly in this organization's history, but maybe of all time,” Harris said at season’s end.
McGonigle became the first rookie to post at least 97 runs, 28 doubles, 18 home runs, 72 RBIs and 95 walks since Ted Williams in 1939. He was second in the AL with 6.0 offensive bWAR, trailing only Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez (7.2), and sixth with 1.9 defensive bWAR.
McGonigle is the fourth rookie to post at least 95 walks and 95 runs scored since the Rookie of the Year Award was established in 1947, joining Aaron Judge (2017), Morgan (1965) and Jim Gilliam (1953).
With 168 hits, 95 walks and three hit-by-pitches, McGonigle is the fourth player since 1990 to reach base safely at least 266 times in his rookie season, joining Judge (286 in 2017), Ichiro Suzuki (280 in 2001) and Albert Pujols (272 in 2001). All won Rookie of the Year honors in their respective leagues. Now, so has McGonigle.
“I hope he's as proud of his season as we are,” manager A.J. Hinch said at season’s end, “and that he's ours, and that we're going to build around him, because we need a lot more of Kevin McGonigle characteristics in and around our club to push this organization forward. He is phenomenal in every way and deserves the hardware he's about to get.”
Hinch made sure that McGonigle got an appreciation for his season, pulling him from the Tigers’ season finale in the ninth inning so that he could receive a standing ovation from the crowd. It was just the 10th time all season McGonigle didn’t finish a game that he started, and his only hook in a game closer than seven runs.
“Of course, this season didn’t end the way we all wanted it to,” said McGonigle, who watched Monday’s announcement at a restaurant near home with dozens of friends and family. “But I was able to get home with some friends and family and kind of kick my feet up and relax a little bit before heading back into the gym and getting ready for next year. All the support they have for me and showing up whenever I was close to home in the Philadelphia area meant the world to me, and I wouldn't be where I'm at today without the people in my corner and of course the coaches and the teammates in that clubhouse.”
Eventually, the appreciation of his accomplishment set in. And the kid who grew up idolizing Utley saw kids on Halloween dressed up as McGonigle.
“It’s really surreal,” he said.
McGonigle’s win carries more than prestige for the Tigers’ front office. Detroit will gain a supplemental first-round Draft pick next year under the Prospect Promotion Incentive, an extra reward for the club’s decision to add its top prospect to its Opening Day roster out of Spring Training. Incidentally, that pick could end up right around the same range where the Tigers selected McGonigle with a Competitive Balance pick (37th overall) in the 2023 MLB Draft.