So close…
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Good news, McGonigle is back!
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Wow, what an athlete
Lots of stuff on Clark, McGonigle, Briceno early, Lirenzo, pitchers and others.
# How long before Tigers prize Max Clark sets sail for Erie?
Full article at Link.
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Clark, who it should be remembered does not turn 21 until December, was batting .317 for the Whitecaps. He had an outrageous on-base percentage of .450, thanks in part to a 19.1% walk-rate, all against a measly strikeout percentage of 12.2. He had two home runs as part of a .433 slugging mark.
Clark, as mentioned, is seven months from 21. He is two years out of high school. Power tends to be a latter-stage additive for most players, even when Clark is a sturdy 6-foot, 205 pounds
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A second reason the Tigers aren’t worried about Clark’s muscle is because of that low strikeout rate.
What development people across baseball know is that K-rates, high and low, tend to follow a hitter through his farm evolution.
Clark’s ability to get his bat on the ball and make hard contact is why his bosses are smiling and seeing validation for all that Tigers scouting execs Mark Conner and Rob Metzler forecasted when Clark was taken third overall in 2023.
When you are squaring-up pitches as often as Clark does, the expectation that he will add down-the-line thump makes eventual home runs more of an accepted fact rather than an area of concern or doubt.
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McGonigle would figure to be Erie-bound at the same time as Clark. His skill with the bat is a main reason to believe the two will be co-promoted, as was the case last July when both were shipped from Lakeland to West Michigan.
The only hang-up: McGonigle, who was shelved during the last month of 2024 with a hamate fracture, has only played in 97 professional games – 60 fewer than Clark.
That might not matter if the left-handed swinging McGonigle hits as he steadily has shown to be his habit: .313/.414/.452/.865. Two months more of featuring the same left-handed wizardry that made him a 37th overall pick in 2023 and branded him as a 2025 top 25 prospect (No. 16, Baseball America; No. 24, MLB Pipeline) and the Tigers could well decide McGonigle is Erie-ready.
His work at shortstop should also be a growing skill that can transport to Erie without much hesitancy
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Above link also comments on first full week of FCL play in Lakeland.
Among those not surprisingly showing impressive stuff after a first full week of FCL play:
Jose Dickson, 18, shortstop, right-handed hitter: Dickson is 6-2 and weighs only 158 but already has a home run, triple, and double in five games and 12 at-bats. He was No. 14 on the 2025 Detroit News Top 50 Prospects list.
Jude Warwick, 19, shortstop, left-handed hitter: Warwick was talked out of his Michigan State commitment last July after the Tigers grabbed him in the 12th round of the MLB Draft. He has been just fine in six games: .333/.400/.444/.844. Warwick is 6-1, 170. As with Dickson, the Tigers are seeing raw talent in customary need of skills seminars and body-building as 2025 marches on.
Enrique Jimenez, 19, catcher, switch-hitter: Another of those jewels who shone last summer in the DSL, Jimenez has had a marvelous May start for the FCL Tigers: five games, .333/.381/.778/.1.159, with two homers and a triple. Jimenez is 5-9, 170, and on this year’s Detroit News Tigers Top 50 Prospects was ranked 13th.
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