It’s pretty good to be the Detroit Tigers these days.
The Tigers, fresh off last season’s strong finish and postseason run to the American League Division Series, entered Tuesday with the best record in the majors at 40-21, and tied with the New York Yankees for the best run differential (plus-98) — a cushion bolstered by Monday night’s 13-1 waxing of the Chicago White Sox.
Detroit’s farm system isn’t too shabby, either. The Tigers entered the season with either baseball’s top farm system or pretty close to it, depending on the national evaluator, and some of those prospects continue to turn out strong performances to validate those rankings.
Two of those prospects were among the hottest in the game last week. Kevin McGonigle, an infielder at Single-A West Michigan, led Baseball America’s weekly Hot Sheet, which ranks the prospects who enjoyed the biggest weeks. McGonigle was joined on the list by teammate Josue Briceño, who slotted in at No. 4 on the 20-player list.
An ankle injury hampered McGonigle’s season at the start, but he was red-hot last week, hitting .591 (13-for-22) with three doubles, a home run, and eight RBIs. McGonigle, 20, is hitting .500 and a gaudy 1.423 OPS in his first 36 at-bats for the Whitecaps, with half of his hits going for extra bases. He’s struck out just three times, with 11 walks.
“About the only knock with McGonigle is that he’s missed more time than he, the Tigers or anyone other than opposing pitchers would like,” Baseball America editor-in-chief J.J. Cooper wrote Monday of the Tigers’ No. 37 overball pick from 2023. “McGonigle didn’t make it back to West Michigan until May 21 because of an ankle injury. … It’s understandable that the Tigers want to knock the rust off, but McGonigle is just too good for the Midwest League.”
The pinnacle of Briceño’s work last week is well-documented — a 4-for-4 performance against Dayton that included three home runs, a double and steal of home. It was only part of it, though. Briceño, 20, bashed five home runs last week, drove in 12 runs and put together an OPS of 1.375 at West Michigan.
“It’s reasonable to wonder how long the West Michigan fans will continue to get to watch this terrific trio,” Cooper writes, “but the combination of McGonigle, Briceño and Max Clark is one of the best prospect groupings in the minors. Briceño’s power is prodigious. In his three-homer game this week, he smashed a line drive opposite field over the left field fence, pulled two over the right field fence and added a double off the 402-foot sign in center field to complete the set.”
Entering Tuesday, the first baseman/catcher was hitting .262 with a .996 OPS, walloping 12 home runs with 37 RBIs.
West Michigan opens a five-game series at home Tuesday night against Lake County, a Cleveland Guardians affiliate.
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