Kevin McGonigle is...

[Jason_R]

Finish this sentence for a Detroit sports fan whose attention is mostly directed toward the Lions and the Red Wings. 

It seems like it might be accurate to say that Kevin McGonigle is already the best hitter on the Detroit Tigers, even before playing a regular season game in the bigs.

Assuming he makes the opening day roster (and it would be astonishing if he didn't), it seems like he is going to be on the short list for ROY candidates.

Where is he likely to stack up against this generation of players? Where is he likely to stack up against Tigers greats? I am starting to get hyped up about him, but I don't know how hyped up I should be. 

[Tiger337]

I won't say he is already their best hitter until he is able to hit in real MLB games, but he is probably their best hitting prospect since the 80s.  

[Tigermojo]

His favorite player is Chase Utley and McGonigle gets a lot of comparisons to Utley.

[IdahoBert]

Kevin is not on the “spring break out” roster exclusive for prospects - a game against the Pirates, which will be played March 20 at I think 7:30 PM EDT and I thought only on Peacock although the MLB app says you can watch it everywhere - so I think this is a way of saying that he has already made the regular season roster and that he is no longer a “prospect.” 

[Motor City Sonics]

.......the most overrated prospect in the history of baseball.  

......the savior of the Detroit Tigers

.....a guy who will hit better than the major league average as a 21-year old (meaning higher than about .246)

...a guy destined for the Toledo Mud Hens because the Tigers don't want to start the clock on him

...the subject of his own thread on Motown Forums

 

[chasfh]

… going to make the 26-man squad, at least by May 1.

[Jason_R]

16 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

I won't say he is already their best hitter until he is able to hit in real MLB games, but he is probably their best hitting prospect since the 80s.  

Are we talking about Trammell/Whitaker tier prospect?

I keep reading about the 80 hitting tool. Is this guy going to hit like Tony Gwinn? 

[Tiger337]

7 minutes ago, Jason_R said:

Are we talking about Trammell/Whitaker tier prospect?

I keep reading about the 80 hitting tool. Is this guy going to hit like Tony Gwinn? 

He's that level of prospect, but that of course does not mean he's going to be as good as them.  I have no scouting skills, but the Tigers have never had a prospect as universally praised as McGonigle in over 40 years and so far he's got the stats to back it up.   He seems to get compared to Utley frequently.  

[SoCalTiger]

.....in San Diego playing shortstop March 26. I will take his picture for you folks as proof.

[tiger2022]

...is the Chris Pitarro of the 2020's.

Can we wait until he actually plays a game before we enshrine him in Cooperstown.

[NorthWoods]

19 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

.......the most overrated prospect in the history of baseball.  

......the savior of the Detroit Tigers

.....a guy who will hit better than the major league average as a 21-year old (meaning higher than about .246)

...a guy destined for the Toledo Mud Hens because the Tigers don't want to start the clock on him

...the subject of his own thread on Motown Forums

 

#3 

[Sports_Freak]

2 hours ago, tiger2022 said:

...is the Chris Pitarro of the 2020's.

Can we wait until he actually plays a game before we enshrine him in Cooperstown.

He's the 2026 of Scott Sizemore?

J/k....we'll see how good he is once ML pitchers get the book on his weaknesses....if he has any.

[ben9753]

20 minutes ago, Sports_Freak said:

He's the 2026 of Scott Sizemore?

J/k....we'll see how good he is once ML pitchers get the book on his weaknesses....if he has any.

we'll see how good MLB pitchers are once he gets the book on their weaknesses

[Tiger337]

3 hours ago, tiger2022 said:

...is the Chris Pitarro of the 2020's.

Can we wait until he actually plays a game before we enshrine him in Cooperstown.

Everybody knows he is unproven and might disappoint.  Not all prospects are the same though.  He's not Ryan Kreidler nor Pittaro.  

Pittaro was never a top prospect.  He had a .696 minor league OPS. Sparky Anderson just liked him and decided to pump him up.  I think it might have had something to do with Anderson noticing that the championship team was not as motivated as they should have been in Spring training and he wanted to shake things up.  Surely he knew that Pittaro was not the next big star.  

[tiger2022]

37 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Everybody knows he is unproven and might disappoint.  Not all prospects are the same though.  He's not Ryan Kreidler nor Pittaro.  

Pittaro was never a top prospect.  He had a .696 minor league OPS. Sparky Anderson just liked him and decided to pump him up.  I think it might have had something to do with Anderson noticing that the championship team was not as motivated as they should have been in Spring training and he wanted to shake things up.  Surely he knew that Pittaro was not the next big star.  

Maybe more in line of Torey Lovulla.

[gehringer_2]

ST is still a small and questionable sample to look at, I'd rather we had seen what he did in 300 AB at AAA, but BB/K and OBP sure seem to be holding up so far, and where ever his D settles out, he has shown that his arm is fine and the glove is reasonable.

Fitting him in is going to be tricky. It would certainly easier to send him to Toledo and bring him up when someone is inevitably hurt so that it wouldn't be so much of a line-up juggle, but that's what they pay Hinch the big bucks for.

[1984Echoes]

Sweeney's 40-man spot is in danger...

[Edman85]

5 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

Sweeney's 40-man spot is in danger...

He's injured. He can't be outrighted.

[1984Echoes]

Hmmm...

Plan B...

Maybe a reliever?

[gehringer_2]

19 minutes ago, 1984Echoes said:

Sweeney's 40-man spot is in danger...

I've been assuming for some time now that Sweeney is out of any immediate plans for the 25 but particularly if McGonigle comes north, they'll want another SS at Toledo anyway.

[Tiger337]

1 hour ago, tiger2022 said:

Maybe more in line of Torey Lovulla.

Another player that was nowhere near McGonigle's level as a prospect.  I am not one to pump up prospects.  I think fans overate their prospects way too much and that the majority of them fail.  Some of them have a high probability of succeeding though and McGonogle is one of them.

Edited yesterday at 10:50 PM by Tiger337

[casimir]

Did he sign yet?

[Edman85]

1 hour ago, 1984Echoes said:

Hmmm...

Plan B...

Maybe a reliever?

Horn and SGL don't seem likely to be ready the first 60 days of the season. Seems like an easy call...

[tiger2022]

12 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

I've been assuming for some time now that Sweeney is out of any immediate plans for the 25 but particularly if McGonigle comes north, they'll want another SS at Toledo anyway.

Usually if you can't hit major league pitching and aren't anything more than an average defensive player, you aren't in anyone's future plan.

[Edman85]

... will post 5+ fWAR this year.

... Will be unanimous AL ROY