Across the league, teams are giving top prospects a chance to make an impression this spring. In many cases with this year’s games, teams have left a wide open path for top prospects to advance to the roster with minimal competition. It’s the same for everyone from here Justin Crawford and Andrew Painter Phyllis’s JJ Weatherholt with the cardinals carson benji of the Mets. Top Tigers Prospects Kevin McGonigle I didn’t have that luxury.
The Tigers didn’t add anyone at shortstop last winter, explicitly blocking McGonigle (even though the deal fell through). Ha-seong Kim They didn’t make the 21-year-old’s path to big league shortstop easy (until he re-signed in Atlanta). Bring it in Gleyber Torres Coming back into the fold via the qualifying offer, they’ve added an everyday player back to the infield to push for other potential second base options, including: colt kiss and Jack McKinstry Elsewhere in Diamonds. After looking at the position last season, Keith is expected to primarily play third base for the Tigers this year.
This put the shortstop in line with McKinstry’s platoon. Javier Baez. Both were All-Stars for the Tigers last year, and McKinstry in particular had a strong season, posting a 114 wRC+ and 3.1 fWAR in 144 games. Baez saw his numbers drop in the second half, but still served as a strong option against left-handers with a .318/.336/.434 slash line in 134 plate moves. But it’s worth remembering that both actually made All-Star games last year at different positions. McKinstry mainly played in the Tigers’ hot corner last year, and Baez was used as a center fielder in the first half of the season.
So where does McGonigle go? Thanks to the versatility of McKinstry and Baez, it would be fair to say that a player blocked by multiple All-Stars has the smoothest path to the majors. Baez could easily transition from center field to a platoon option. Parker Meadows Because he could be a shortstop. McKinstry played every position except center field and catcher last year. He could easily get regular playing time without being the team’s everyday shortstop if he just returns to the super utility ability he had last season.
Still, if the Tigers try to push McKinstry out of his expected day-to-day role (and a valuable bench piece like Matt Beering Off the list) They will definitely need a compelling reason to make that call. McGonigle is doing everything he can to make that claim. Consensus #2 prospect in sports Connor Griffin Not only did he demolish Double-A with a 162 wRC+ last year despite some bad batting luck with a .230 BABIP, but he came into camp on fire. In 17 plate appearances during spring training so far, McGonigle has hit .400/471/.667 with two doubles and a triple.
This is definitely an eye-opening performance, even in a small sample size. But with that being said, it would be understandable if the Tigers decided it would be best for McGonigle to start the season in Triple-A instead. He’s never performed at that level in his career, and in fact only played in 46 games in Double-A. While Griffin has garnered the most attention for his meteoric rise, knocking on the door of the major leagues in just 122 MiLB games (21 in Double-A), McGonigle’s 183 games in the minors aren’t quite as high. Another factor for the Tigers will certainly be considering both service time and prospect promotion incentives. If McGonigle can’t play even a few weeks in Triple-A, Detroit will have the opportunity to secure another year of team control over the youngster. If that’s the case, it could backfire if McGonigle emerges as a Rookie of the Year contender. Finishing in the top two of this year’s AL Rookie of the Year voting guarantees him one year of service time even if he starts in the minor leagues, and winning this award gives the Tigers the old-fashioned way: a draft pick if he earns one year of service time.
How do MLBTR readers think the Tigers will handle the shortstop position to open the year? Will they give McKinstry and Baez the keys to the position, or will McGonigle get a chance to establish himself as the future of the franchise at shortstop? Please take the survey below.
