MESA, Ariz. -- It might be hard to stand out offensively in a game with a combined 35 runs scored -- just the second time since 2005 that more than 33 runs were scored in one Arizona Fall League contest -- and 39 hits banged out, but Kevin McGonigle found a way on Tuesday afternoon.
The league's top-ranked prospect played like it, collecting four hits -- two of them home runs -- with four RBIs and four runs scored out of the leadoff spot in Scottsdale's 21-14 loss to Mesa. The output raised McGonigle's slash line to .404/.514/.737, and following the game, MLB's No. 2 overall prospect stood fourth in the league in average, slugging and OPS, completely erasing a relatively slow 3-for-14 start to his Fall League campaign.
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“I feel like the whole time I've been grinding everything out, getting every at-bat in and taking every pitch as hard as I can," McGonigle said. "I feel like I've been keeping up with the same thing I've been doing throughout the season and I look forward to keep doing that."
The Tigers' No. 1 prospect didn’t waste much time getting started on Tuesday. Working right-hander Jackson Baumeister (TB No. 21) to a 2-0 count to kick off the game, he got a third fastball in a row and didn’t miss it, hitting it 107.5 mph off the bat and depositing it 406 feet away over the fence in right-center field.
“I got to 2-0, knew a heater was gonna come, so I was on time with it and I turned on it,” McGonigle said.
After singles in the second and fifth, he came to the plate against A's righty Mark Adamiak in the sixth with the score tied, 7-7, and two runners on. He fell behind in that AB, but managed to find a pitch he could drive just enough to give Scottsdale a temporary lead.
“I fell down 0-2 and saw the first changeup he spiked,” McGonigle said “He went back to the heater up and then went back to another changeup. I just got enough barrel, threw my hands at it and luckily got enough of it.”
Just enough of it was still 102.2 mph off the bat to right field. He was far from alone in terms of notable offensive performance as six total players had at least three hits in the game. His Tigers organization mate Max Anderson got two of them and scored four times. The club's No. 9 prospect leads the league with a .488 average and a 1.552 OPS, providing a 1-2 punch fans in Detroit can’t help but be excited about.
“It's awesome being able to share the field with those guys, winning ballgames with them,” McGonigle said of playing with both Anderson and Jack Penney, a Tigers prospect who also had two hits. “Sadly, we didn't get it in today, but sharing the field with those guys is special, for sure.”
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After turning in a superb offensive campaign during the regular season, it shouldn’t be surprising to see McGonigle put up such numbers. But what makes it even more impressive is that he’s in Arizona concentrating on a different part of his game. On Tuesday, he manned shortstop, where he played exclusively in 2025, but he’s also played a lot of third base out here -- the first time he’s gotten as a pro at the hot corner.
“It's been good,” McGonigle said. “That's the main thing I'm focusing on out here is defense. I had a botched ball today, but I made a few other ones which was good to make up for it. I look forward to keep working on it out there.”