Kevin McGonigle is headed to the major leagues.

The Detroit Tigers announced on Tuesday that the Bonner & Prendergast graduate made the team’s Opening Day roster, despite the 21-year-old shortstop never playing in Triple A.

The No. 2 overall prospect in baseball per MLB.com jumps straight from a stellar season in Double A and an excellent spring to the big leagues.

Tigers manager AJ Hinch had said this week that the club would take as long as it needed to decide on McGonigle’s status, maybe even to the day of Thursday’s opener in San Diego. Turns out it didn’t take that long to see the roster merits of the 5-9, 187-pounder who was the 37th overall pick in 2023.

McGonigle won’t turn 22 until Aug. 18. If he starts in the opener, he’d be the youngest Tiger in an Opening Day lineup since Omar Infante in 2003. Tigers to start a season-opener before their 22nd birthday are a select group that, according to MLB.com, includes Hall of Famers Ty Cobb, Al Kaline, Alan Trammell and Harry Heilmann and multiple-time All-Star Lou Whitaker.

“He’s a really good player,” Hinch told The Athletic. “He’s a quick learner. I think his ability to process everything from subtleties within the positions to feedback when he makes a mistake is a great sign for a young player who is trying to find his way. He’s not overwhelmed by the moment. … He’s had an impressive camp production-wise, which is what everybody sees. But a lot of the little details, he’s excelling at.”

As part of the promotion, McGonigle changed his number from 85 in spring to No. 7.

McGonigle would be the first player from Delaware County to play in the major leagues since Archbishop Carroll grad Mike Costanzo’s final game for the Reds on June 5, 2012. (Cardinal O’Hara graduate Mike Antonini was called up twice in 2012 by the Dodgers but did not appear in a game.)

In 20 games this spring, McGonigle went 11-for-44 with two homers, five extra-base hits and six RBIs. He walked 11 times against nine strikeouts.

Perhaps most importantly, he was solid defensively at shortstop, with his ability to play the position a question that could’ve hampered his ascent. The Tigers ranked 28th in the big leagues in WAR from the shortstop position in 2025, per Baseball Reference.

Trey Sweeney, who hit .196 in 118 games last year, was the team’s primary shortstop. He displaced Javier Baez, who played 80 games at short in 2024 and 62 in an All-Star season in 2025. Sweeney is likely to start the season in the injured list, while Baez can back up both McGonigle and third baseman Colt Keith.

McGonigle can also play second or third base, positions at which he’s projected as a plus defender.

McGonigle’s first professional season was limited to 21 games thanks to a wrist injury, and he played 74 games in 2024. He mashed his way through High A, with a with a .372 average and 1.110 OPS in 36 games last year. In 46 games at Double-A Erie, he hit 12 homers and 41 RBIs with a .254 average and a .919 OPS.

He has played a grand total of 183 games in the minor leagues with 818 plate appearances. In that time, he’s slashed .308/.410/.512 with 208 hits, 25 home runs, 130 RBIs and 123 walks against 84 strikeouts, plus 40 stolen bases in 54 attempts.

The Tigers’ home opener is next Friday, April 3, against St. Louis. The Tigers don’t play in Philadelphia this year, the only series between the teams July 10-12 in Detroit.