Kevin McGonigle has put together one helluva spring training for the Detroit Tigers. MLB Pipeline’s No. 2 prospect entered camp with a faint opportunity to crack the Opening Day roster. He has since made that decision very, very easy for the Tigers front office. As the team looks to compete in Tarik Skubal’s final year under contract, there’s no excuse to leave McGonigle — perhaps the best hitter in the organization at 21 years old — stuck in the minors. Now is not the time for service time manipulation.
The speedy shortstop is 6-for-15 (.400) with two walks, two doubles, a triple and an RBI so far in official spring training competition. He also did this in the Tigers’ exhibition against the Dominican Republic WBC team:
Kevin McGonigle annihilates the first pitch he sees from Luis Severino for a home run. 👀🚀 pic.twitter.com/2pcjyNmnza
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) March 3, 2026
With McGonigle seemingly becoming more secure in his Opening Day projection with each passing game, these Tigers could find themselves out of luck:
Max Clark, OF
While Max Clark plays an entirely different position than McGonigle, there’s only so much real estate on the 26-man roster. Clark was selected 34 picks ahead of McGonigle — third overall — in the 2023 MLB Draft, so there’s a cosmic link here. The Tigers’ No. 2 prospect has generated unfavorable headlines this spring due to an uneven performance (and some silly jewelry discourse), but talent-wise, he’s a strong candidate for the majors. Detroit just has too much depth across the board.
Veterans like Zach McKinstry, Javy Báez and Matt Vierling will all get priority. Not only due to seniority, but because each of them can cycle between infield and outfield, the sort of versatility A.J. Hinch values even more than most managers. Jahmai Jones posted a whopping .937 OPS across 129 at-bats last season, so it would seem the fourth outfield spot belongs to him, with Parker Meadows, Wenceel Pérez and Riley Greene starting. The Tigers won’t promote Clark until he’s guaranteed everyday reps.
Max Anderson, 2B
Max Anderson, Detroit’s No. 5 prospect at MLB Pipeline, has a few years on McGonigle despite hailing from the same draft class (that 2023 crop is proving quite fruitful for the Tigers). The 24-year-old put up a .749 OPS across 32 Triple-A games last season; he’s technically a more “seasoned” prospect in that he has faced higher levels of competition. And yet, there’s no way McGonigle does not surpass him once and for all on the organizational depth chart at this point.
Detroit’s infield depth generally complicates the situation for Anderson, although odds are Detroit fans see him in the majors sooner than later. It has been an unimpressive spring so far, hitting 4-for-17 with three strikeouts and zero walks. That lines up with the common wisdom on Anderson as a prospect: he’s an aggressive hitter with real power for a second baseman, but he doesn’t work deep into counts and he’s liable for the occasional cold spell. Still, a bit more polish in Toledo should do the trick.
Hao-Yu Lee, 3B
Hao-Yu Lee, Detroit’s No. 6 prospect, spent all of last season in Triple-A. He put up a .748 OPS with 14 home runs and 22 stolen bases. Conventional wisdom suggests that Lee, a full-time Triple-A player, is closer to the majors than McGonigle. But the latter is on a rocket-like ascent and Lee just did not stick the landing this spring. He went 3-for-13 with a walk and two strikeouts, then joined Chinese Taipei for the World Baseball Classic. Now, he has suffered an oblique injury on the international stage, which just about puts a nail in the coffin for his Opening Day odds.
At 23 years old, Lee is undoubtedly close to the majors — like Anderson before him. Whether he’s close to the majors in Detroit is another question entirely. Lee checks a lot of boxes for an all-around utilityman who can run the bases and occasionally dial up right-handed power, which the Tigers need. But there are just so many versatile, interchangeable infielders on the roster and coming up through the pipeline already. He could end up as trade bait. He certainly won’t be on the roster when the season opens.
Jace Jung, 3B
Detroit’s first-round pick in the 2022 draft, Jace Jung is a former top prospect who has accrued 55 games of MLB experience across his first two seasons. He struggled mightily in limited exposure in 2025, slashing .106/.236/.106 across 47 at-bats. He generated five hits compared to 16 strikeouts. While it’s far too early to jump ship, Detroit clearly needs to recalibrate expectations for the 25-year-old. That almost certainly means starting the upcoming season in Triple-A, with the potential for a promotion down the road.
Just last season, Jung was Detroit’s No. 7 prospect per MLB Pipeline, with 55-grade hit and power tools. There is obvious talent here, as the lefty cranked 17 home runs with an .817 OPS in Toledo last season. He’s still producing at lower levels; Detroit needs to now figure out how to smooth over his transition to the majors. A few tweaks in approach and a long, patient runway at Triple-A almost certainly next up for Jung. Add him to the list of Tigers up-and-comers McGonigle has firmly left in the dust.
