Tigers' reasons for keeping Kevin McGonigle off Opening Day roster are wearing thin

Kevin McGonigle is the consensus No. 2 prospect in baseball, and the first prospect since Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to garner a perfect 80-grade for his hitting tool from Baseball America. Everyone knows that the bat is advanced — maybe capable of propelling him to superstardom in the majors — but the Tigers' hesitance to confirm that he'll be on the Opening Day roster isn't totally unfounded.

Marks for his defense at shortstop are decent, but less glowing. Baseball America has him at 55; MLB Pipeline at 50. Second base could be a softer place for him to land, but he's blocked by Gleyber Torres there.

So the real test for McGonigle in spring training was how he would perform at shortstop. And he's been making a pretty good case for himself there.

On Sunday, McGonigle made three solid plays at shortstop behind starter Tarik Skubal. He handled two double plays with ease — first making the decision to take the ball himself instead of flipping to Torres then, an inning later, covered second when Torres took a grounder. In the top of the third, he made a nice grab to nab a runner at first.

These are routine plays, maybe nothing impressive to a seasoned fan, but that's what it's all about, isn't it? Dependability and consistency.

Kevin McGonigle making strides at shortstop in Tigers spring training emphasizes his readiness for the majors

To no one's surprise, McGonigle's also been hitting the ball well. Through seven games, he's batting .400 with a 1.138 OPS, and his exit velocities are routinely getting into the triple digits. His first hit of camp was a 104.5 MPH single. He's hitting better than consensus No. 1 prospect Konnor Griffin, for all that spring training's tiny sample sizes are worth.

And the Tigers expect to have some flexibility at shortstop this year, with Javy Báez moving around the field more. Zach McKinstry is a perfectly average shortstop, but he'll also be playing everywhere and can certainly lose a couple of starts at short if it means making room for McGonigle.

The question is still whether or not the Tigers will let him skip Triple-A entirely — which is something they never do. They could start him there and give him a cursory glance, but he's already making spring training, against some legitimate major league pitchers, look easy. But support for McGonigle's place on the Opening Day roster is growing, both externally and internally.

At this point, there might be more reason to rush than to wait. The Tigers' 2026 lineup will be identical to their 2025 lineup ... unless the Tigers decide to take a chance and shake things up a little.