Most underrated head of Tigers' 3-headed top prospect dragon is already making waves in camp

Of the 25 non-roster invitees in major league camp with the Tigers, Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark — the Nos. 2 and 10 prospects in all of baseball, respectively — have the most eyes on them by far.

Clark isn't likely to make the Opening Day roster, but Scott Harris and AJ Hinch's refusal to reject the possibility of McGonigle doing so speaks volumes. He'll start at shortstop for the Tigers' first spring game against the Yankees on Saturday.

However, the Tigers' No. 3 prospect (baseball's No. 40) is also in major league camp and is already making waves. Catcher/first baseman Josue Briceño hit a monster home run off of none other than Tarik Skubal on Wednesday during a live batting practice, prompting appropriate "ooo's" from onlookers.

Skubal said of the slider Briceño crushed: "It was a bad pitch — right down the middle. But he was also complimentary of the top prospect: "He launched it. I think [the exit velocity] was probably 115 mph off the bat. Way back. Yeah, way back. [...] He had some really competitive at-bats. Very competitive left-on-left. A hell of a good swing."

Tigers No. 3 prospect Josue Briceño homers off of Tarik Skubal in spring training

Seeing Skubal give up a home run is a rarity, and even more so against left-handed batters like Briceño. Only five lefties have ever done it since Skubal's debut in 2020: Corey Seager, Cal Mitchell, Triston Casas, Freddie Freeman, and Edouard Julien.

If the chances of Clark making the Opening Day roster are slim-to-none, there's even less hope for Briceño. But there's no reason to rush him, given that the Tigers are happy with their Dillon Dingler-Jake Rogers combo behind the plate and Spencer Torkelson should have first base locked up (unless Jace Jung actually manages to turn some things around).

And Briceño struggled more than both Clark and McGonigle after the three were jointly promoted to Double-A last year. He hit .232 with a .716 OPS in 45 games to Clark's .251/.799 and McGonigle's beastly .254/.919 in a comparable amount of games.

So the Tigers feel no need to force the issue and rush him before he's ready. But even players like Briceño, who already know that they're probably going back to the minors to start he season, are in spring training looking to impress. Being a lefty capable of hitting a bomb off of the game's best left-handed pitcher? Pretty nice way to make a good impression.