Veteran superstars praising Kevin McGonigle will make Tigers fans even more grateful for him

You don't have to be at All-Star festivities in Philadelphia to tell that there's been an aura surrounding Kevin McGonigle this week.

Maybe the Tigers' social media admin just does an exceptionally good job of making him look like the main character, but that doesn't detract from the fact that this is special for McGonigle. It's his first All-Star Game, and it just so happens to be at the stadium he grew up frequenting, in the city he grew up just outside of. It's such a good baseball story.

And everyone knows that McGonigle is special, maybe a superstar in the making. Justin Verlander is a future Hall of Famer; this is Riley Greene's third consecutive season as an All-Star; Dillon Dingler is arguably the best catcher in baseball — but it just seems like McGonigle is the Tiger at All-Star festivities.

The veterans in attendance seem to know it, too. Mike Trout, who also grew up rooting for the Phillies from south New Jersey, texted McGonigle personally to congratulate him on his selection as a reserve. While the Phillies themselves were visiting Detroit over the weekend, Bryce Harper said, "I wish he was a Phillie."

Kevin McGonigle is basking in the All-Star week glow after first nod as a Tiger

It was a popular question among Tigers fans when the team was in their terrible month of May, but it bears repeating even now that they're in a better place: where would the Tigers be without Kevin McGonigle?

It's impossible to say, really, and we also don't really want to think about that particular alternate universe, but we can all agree that the answer is something along the lines of 'bad.'

One player can't carry a major league baseball team, but it's undeniable that McGonigle almost always gets himself into the best position to help his team win. He's fighting pitchers through long at-bats to drive up pitch counts, he's being patient enough to take a walk with two outs to keep an inning alive, he's hitting line drives just over infielders' heads to drive in runs.

Basically, he looks like he's been doing this, at this level, for years, when he's 21 and has yet to play in 100 major league games.

Tigers fans know it, and stars like Harper and Trout know it. If there's anyone out there who still hasn't gotten with the program, they will soon enough.

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