The Detroit Tigers have potentially a marquee matchup for its Spring Breakout game in 2026.
Major League Baseball on Wednesday released its schedule for the series showcasing organizations’ top prospects during spring training March 19-22, with the Tigers traveling to Bradenton, Florida, on Friday, March 20, to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The game will boast two of baseball’s better farm systems. The Tigers were ranked No. 3 in Baseball America’s updated farm-system rankings in August, and No. 6 by MLB Pipeline. The Pirates are Nos. 2 and 9, respectively. It’s one of just three games on the Spring Breakout slate in which both teams are ranked among Pipeline’s top 10 farm systems.
What’s more, it’s possible the game could boast the game’s top two prospects. Pirates shortstop/outfielder Konnor Griffin is the game’s the top-ranked prospect, according to both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America, while Tigers shortstop Kevin McGonigle is No. 2, according to both evaluators.
Griffin, 19, was Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year in 2025, while McGonigle shot up the Tigers’ organizational ladder and the prospect rankings last season. The former No. 37 overall pick from the 2023 MLB Draft, McGonigle finished at Double-A Erie following an early July promotion with fellow prospects Max Clark and Josue Briceño. He opened the season as Baseball America’s No. 23 overall prospect, and is currently tearing up the Arizona Fall League, turning in a two-homer, four-RBI game Tuesday in the Scottsdale Scorpions’ 21-14 loss to Mesa Solar Sox.
Rosters have yet to be set.
“There’s a lot more to this matchup than just Griffin vs. McGonigle,” MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis writes. “The Tigers have a stockpile of Top 100 position prospects that also includes outfielder Max Clark (No. 8), first baseman Josue Briceño (No. 33) and shortstop Bryce Rainer (No. 37). The Pirates can counter with a trio of Top 100 arms: right-handers Bubba Chandler (No. 14, a Spring Breakout star in 2025) and Seth Hernandez (No. 27), plus left-hander Hunter Barco (No. 78).”
Baseball America’s Josh Norris writes the game has “the potential for something special,” calling it possibly the “gem of the series.”
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