Could top prospect McGonigle play way onto Tigers' Opening Day roster?

Kevin McGonigle will arrive at Spring Training looking to make his case for the call to Detroit. Part of that case will be his impressive plate discipline, honed by his ability to pick up pitches. The infielder's work in the Arizona Fall League was impressive enough for his potential next manager to pick up his tab from afar, even if A.J. Hinch wasn’t aware of it.

“[Tigers third-base coach] Joey Cora went down to see that group and Facetimed me at a dinner that I didn't know that I was going to pay for at the end of the Fall League,” Hinch said at this month’s Winter Meetings. “So I got a chance to treat him to dinner in Phoenix without even being there.”

Hinch will get a chance to watch him compete in person again soon enough. He made a fantastic first impression as an extra player from Minor League camp last Spring Training, and he’s expected to get a non-roster invite to Major League camp this time around. And at some point, maybe sooner rather than later, Hinch will be able to put him in Detroit’s infield at Comerica Park.

Hinch and president of baseball operations Scott Harris were asked at the Winter Meetings if McGonigle will have a chance to compete for an Opening Day roster spot in Spring Training.

“Depends on who you’re asking,” Harris said with a wry smile.

McGonigle is on the way. He will contribute to the Tigers’ 2026 season. It’s more a matter of when, and where in the Tigers’ infield he fits. The Tigers’ offseason plan revolves in part around that expectation. That fits with the overarching organizational philosophy of creating opportunities for young players to come up through the system and find roles in Detroit.

“We haven't figured it out,” Harris said. “Part of it depends on the makeup of the team. Part of it depends on Kevin's preparedness to be on the Opening Day roster. There are a lot of factors that go into it. Could we figure it out now? Yeah, probably. But we're just kinda focused on other stuff right now and we'll probably get to that once the roster is fully baked.”

The steady rise of McGonigle from a supplemental first-round pick in the 2023 Draft to MLB Pipeline’s No. 2 overall prospect has been a tribute to McGonigle’s tireless work ethic as well as the Tigers’ player development department. He was the Tigers’ No. 7 prospect going into his first full pro season in 2024, then showed hints of his potential by posting an .853 OPS in 74 games between Single-A Lakeland and High-A West Michigan, his season halted in early August by an oblique injury.

After a sprained right ankle on Opening Day at West Michigan cost him another month, McGonigle needed just seven weeks to show the High-A Midwest League was no match for him, slashing .372/.462/.648 with 19 doubles and seven home runs in 36 games. His average dropped upon his July promotion to Double-A Erie, but his power sustained, with 12 homers and 10 doubles in 46 games. McGonigle’s MVP performance in the Arizona Fall League was arguably a bonus.

Runs batted in can be a tricky judge of a player, as much a creation of scoring opportunities as hitting ability. Still, McGonigle’s 80 RBIs in 88 games stand out; he accumulated that production by batting .300 with runners in scoring position.

Likewise, McGonigle has nearly a 3-to-2 walk-to-strikeout ratio through two Minor League seasons while hitting .308. That combination of plate discipline and impact power is the epitome of the Tigers’ organizational hitting philosophy of “dominating the strike zone.”

A stint at Triple-A Toledo against more experienced pitchers could further hone that discipline, just as it did for Colt Keith in 2023, while giving McGonigle a run with the Automated-Ball Strike Challenge System. But if McGonigle pounds Major League pitching in Spring Training, the temptation to bypass Triple-A could become tantalizing, particularly given the Prospect Promotion Incentive: If a Top 100 prospect accrues a full year of service time -- either making the Opening Day roster or getting called up within the first couple weeks -- and either wins Rookie of the Year or places top three in MVP or Cy Young voting before becoming arbitration-eligible, that team gets an extra Draft pick at the end of the first round.

“McGonigle's going to get a lot of attention, internally, externally, because he's a terrific prospect,” Hinch said. “Some [prospects] will factor in sooner than others, but it's something that we will sort out. They'll get a lot of at-bats in the spring. We'll have them prepared to compete for any opportunity. It may be during the spring, it might be in the first week of April, it might be later in the summer.”

That timing could depend on the position. McGonigle was drafted as a shortstop and has started 126 of his 183 Minor League games there. But he also has experience at second base in the lower levels of the system, and the Tigers had him playing primarily third base in the Arizona Fall League to gain experience there and expand their options with him.

“I do think Kevin's getting a little bit of a raw deal in the general media about his ability to play shortstop,” Harris said. “He's going to play a lot of shortstop in Spring Training. You guys are going to see it.”