Tigers Manager AJ Hinch Might Have Dropped Hint on Top Prospects Debut
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Spring training is amongst us, and players all around the league are shaking off the dust from the offseason. Teams are gearing up for the looming Opening Day, which is inching closer and closer. Some organizations have a plethora of new faces, while some will be banking on a very similar roster from 2025.
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The Detroit Tigers are one of the ballclubs that had a quiet offseason, at least in terms of their position players. Their pitching staff now features both Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander, but in terms of their hitters, 2026 will be nearly identical.
However, the Tigers might be banking on a prospect (or two) that is within their system to step in and step up. Fans have been waiting for the day that one of the best infielders currently in the pipeline finally gets the call-up, and Detroit's manager, AJ Hinch, might have just hinted that his time is coming sooner rather than later.
MLB Network reported that Hinch made it a point that the one and only Kevin McGonigle introduced himself at practice yesterday. Why else would he do that unless McGonigle would eventually be joining this roster, and the guys needed to know who he was?
Detroit has hitting power with two Silver Slugger Award winners last season (Riley Greene and Zach McKinstry) and they won't be looking to McGonigle to be their lead-off man by any means. With that said, it is hard to be anything but excited when looking at how this 21-year-old is performing at the plate.
McGonigle in the Minors
Since the first minor league game that he played back in 2023 to his final Double-A he has suited up in 183 games where he has batted .308/.410/.512 to bring his OPS well over .900. Yes, his rookie league might skew it, but his Arizona Fall League was even more impressive.
The Tigers sent him down to Scottsdale this Fall and he was able to play on the biggest stage (for prospects). In those 19 games he slashed .362/.500/.710, where he batted in 19 runs, drew 19 walks, and hit five long balls.
.@beckjason says Tigers manager A.J. Hinch made it a point to have MLB's No. 2 prospect Kevin McGonigle stand up in front of the team to introduce himself at practice yesterday.#MLBNHotStove pic.twitter.com/9cwgYutbj4
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 17, 2026
McGonigle won't yet be 22 years old when Opening Day rolls around. That combined with him ending 2025 in Double-A, makes it highly likely that he will start the year in Triple-A. But, if he continues to progress as he has been, it is a near guarantee that his debut will come in 2026.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.