The Detroit Tigers began their quest for a World Series title last week with the first series of the season against the San Diego Padres, taking two of three before dropping the final game on Saturday.
It was a strong start for Detroit as they get set for their second series out West against the Arizona Diamondbacks starting late Monday night, but let’s take a look at some individual performances that stood out from the weekend in San Diego.
This is the first edition of your go to your weekly column on the Detroit Tigers; Tigers Monday Review.
Kevin McGonigle
Detroit Tigers third baseman Kevin McGonigle | David Frerker-Imagn Images
Despite going hitless as the offense went quiet on Saturday, the story of the weekend was always going to be McGonigle. Coming off a historic four-hit performance on Opening Day, the 21-year-old came up with a clutch two RBI 8th inning single that wound up winning the game for Detroit.
The rookie looks like a legitimate star already, and even when the inevitable rookie wall comes at some point this year, it took him just two games to prove the Tigers made the right decision in calling him up to begin the year.
As he continues to settle in, he will have a ton of eyes on him every game he plays.
Jack Flaherty
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Jack Flaherty | David Frerker-Imagn Images
Flaherty entered the year as one of the more important players on the team with high hopes that he could return to his form from the first half of 2024 following a shaky season in his return to Detroit that was a little bit of a roller coaster.
Unfortunately, his season debut looked like more of the same in terms of inconsistency, accuracy issues, and hard hit balls. Flaherty was not horrible in allowing four hits and two runs over 4.1 innings, but he walked four batters and just 49 of his 89 pitches were strikes.
If it’s another year for the right-hander where he is this inconsistent from start to start, perhaps the ceiling of this Tigers rotation is not quite as high as some may have hoped.
Colt Keith
Detroit Tigers third baseman Colt Keith | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
While McGonigle’s performance dominated the headlines, Keith came in this weekend under much less of a spotlight and silently had a huge showing at the plate himself entering a critical season for his development.
Collecting four hits, Keith put up a slash line of .444/.545/.556 and looks a whole lot more comfortable at the plate. Settling into a role at third base and designated hitter, and no longer the player who folks are monitoring the closest, it’s an extremely encouraging start to the campaign.
Should Keith prove that he has taken the next step as a hitter and is ready to breakout this year, this offense could be due for a massive season.