Updated Feb. 28, 2026, 12:05 p.m. ET
Kevin McGonigle, MLB’s consensus No. 2 prospect entering the 2026 season, is making it difficult for Tigers to say no to Opening Day roster spot.McGonigle on Friday smashed two hits in one inning, both with an exit velocity over 107 mph.McGonigle, who bats left-handed, shared his hitting secret in Tigers spring training.
LAKELAND, FL – Top prospect Kevin McGonigle is making it difficult for the Detroit Tigers to turn him away.
The 21-year-old left-handed-hitting shortstop hasn’t played above Double-A Erie, and while the Tigers haven’t haven’t committed to him as part of their 2026 Opening Day roster, they haven’t ruled him out, either.
In his latest spring showcase, McGonigle stepped to the plate three times during the Tigers’ 16-8 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, Feb. 27, at Joker Marchant Stadium. He collected two hits with elite exit velocities in one inning, then drew a six-pitch walk without swinging the bat in a left-on-left matchup in the next inning.
“He’s got a great feel for the game, and he has a plan,” manager A.J. Hinch said after Friday’s game. “The thing about the offensive side is the results are the results, but his process is really mature, which is a good sign. He has a plan, he goes up, he executes.”
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McGonigle, the No. 37 pick in the 2023 MLB Draft out of a suburban Philadelphia high school, emerged off the bench in Friday’s game against the Phillies.
McGonigle is the consensus No. 2 prospect in baseball.
In his three plate appearances, he faced right-handed reliever Yoniel Curet (double) and right-handed reliever Andrew Baker (single) in the sixth inning and left-handed reliever Andrew Walling (walk) in the seventh inning.
McGonigle broke down his process.
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When he is in the starting lineup, he studies video of the opposing starter before the game. When he comes off the bench – without knowing exactly whom he’ll face, as was the case in Friday’s game – he checks in with the trio of Tigers hitting coaches.
“Definitely going up to the hitting guys to see what they have,” McGonigle said. “They have the sheet with all of the pitches on it, and I’ll take a peek at that. I don’t like looking at too much information, but definitely the top pitches they like to throw, the movement on them and the velocities. It’s the little things like that I usually look at.”
From there, he keeps it simple.
See it.
Swing it.
“I don’t really sit [on] pitches or anything like that,” McGonigle said. “I look at one spot. If it starts there, go. If it doesn’t, spit.”
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In the sixth inning, McGonigle pulled a middle-middle 87.3 mph cutter from Curet into the right-field corner for a leadoff double, then ripped a middle-up 96.1 mph fastball from Baker into right field for an RBI single. The first hit had a 107.7 mph exit velocity, and the second hit had a 108.3 mph exit velocity.
Two hits in one inning.
Both over 107 mph exit velocity.
“Really?” McGonigle said.
Really.
It’s a rare accomplishment.
During the 2025 season, the Tigers had just five cases of one player collecting two hits over 107 mph exit velocity in the same game: outfielder Riley Greene did it four times, and second baseman Gleyber Torres did it once, according to Chris Brown of Tigers Minor League Report.
In Friday’s game, McGonigle did it in the same inning.
He shared his secret.
“It comes out of getting my A-swing off at any pitch in the heart of the zone,” McGonigle said. “I’m swinging pretty hard. I’m still thinking about the ball, but that’s the adjustment I made from my first year in pro ball to now. Two strikes, don’t think slap. Just go up there and still think, swing the bat hard. That’s where the exit velocity comes from – and just using the ground.”
In five spring games, McGonigle is hitting .364 (4-for-11) with one walk and three strikeouts in 12 plate appearances. He has played 14 innings at shortstop and four innings at third base.
The Tigers view him as a shortstop.
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But in Friday’s game, McGonigle logged innings at third base for the first time this spring.
“He’s done a lot of work to prepare for third base,” Hinch said, referencing McGonigle’s time in the Arizona Fall League after the 2025 regular season. “We owe it to him to give him looks everywhere. As you can see with our roster, we’re willing to do anything we can to line it up, even in the spring.”
Maybe not just in the spring.
“He’s going to have a ton of opportunity to settle in,” Hinch said. “Clearly, today is a good example of why we love him.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.