Kevin McGonigle was a baseball player who was heavily scouted, even as a freshman in high school. During that time, he committed to play college baseball for Auburn University, but he wouldn’t make it that far.
By his senior year, he was one of the top prep draft prospects in the class. He would go on to be drafted 37th overall during the 2023 MLB Draft by the Detroit Tigers.
And it wouldn’t take him long to fast-track through the minors. By the time Opening Day rosters came out this season, the young slugger found his name on the list, and he has been a bright spot for a team that is struggling.
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Tigers’ rookie sits just outside the top 10 in the midseason player rankings
McGonigle looks more like an established veteran than someone who is playing in his first season in the big leagues. Across 84 games, he is hitting .292/.391/.424 with seven home runs, 31 runs batted in, and 11 stolen bases.
He’s a frontrunner to win the AL Rookie of the Year Award, especially with Munetaka Murakami on the IL, and he’s sitting just outside Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller’s midseason top 25 list, sitting at No. 11.
“McGonigle’s discipline as a 21-year-old is outrageous. He has three more walks than strikeouts, ranks top 10 in the majors in on-base percentage, is a perfect 11-for-11 in stolen base attempts and has taken more bases than all players not named Bobby Witt Jr. Many top prospects need some time to adjust to the higher difficulty level when they first make it to the majors, but McGonigle is making this look easy.”
There’s not much McGonigle has done wrong this season. The front office and the fans should feel happy about how this former top prospect is handling himself in his first season.