Tigers @ Twins: August 31-Sept 2

[frm710]

# Kevin McGonigle’s emerging power unsurprising to AJ Hinch, Tigers

The emerging power of Kevin McGonigle’s bat might be surprising to some, but not to Tigers manager AJ Hinch.

The rookie second baseman got the call up to start the season with Detroit and has been an offensive revelation overall, commanding the strike zone to the tune of 81 walks (tops among rookies) to 82 strikeouts, all in 503 at-bats. The other two rookies over 500 at-bats this season have 129 and 95 strikeouts, respectively, and not nearly the same amount of walks.

McGonigle, starting at various spots across the infield, has carved out a role as the Tigers’ leadoff hitter many days and is a good threat on the basepaths, too. His offensive profile has been sterling, though the ability to hit for power was never a big sell. But with eight home runs over the last two months and 14 on the season to go with a .419 slugging percentage, the pop is starting to show up, including with a walk-off hit to the opposite field in a 2-1 win over the Dodgers on Saturday, Aug. 29.

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McGonigle’s 24 doubles are tied for fourth among rookies and his three triples are tied for second.

…And the advanced stats tell a similar story, with McGonigle’s average exit velocity on batted balls sitting at 88.2 mph, per Baseball Savant. That’s just a tenth of a mile per hour off Dillon Dingler’s average exit velocity, and puts McGonigle among plenty of strong hitters.

“He’s hit a ball out to left, he’s pulling the ball deeper, had some no-doubters,” Hinch said. “So it’s something that we expected for him to show up. And then as the big key, transitioning to the big leagues was, was he going to manage the bats and manage the strike zone as well as he did in the minor leagues? And I think he’s answering that question, too.”

[frm710]

I know that one of the items the Tigers wanted him to work on in AAA, and why he wasn’t called up sooner was his defense. He listened and improved tremendously.

# Tigers’ AJ Hinch praises Max Clark’s defense, outlines next steps as hitter
full article at link.

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And some of the best stuff Clark has started to do from his center-field spot, Hinch said, doesn’t necessarily result in an out.

“I think his development that has taken the biggest leap forward has got his attention in detail on defense,” Hinch said before the finale against the Dodgers on Sunday, Aug. 30. "His his jumps, his commitment to selling out, to go make make plays, make plays that he’s going to catch and make plays that are that are not necessarily recorded out, but they keep a guy going first to third, they keep a guy going home to second. Those, he’s taken a really big step forward from spring training, of understanding the importance of the position on the non-output.

"That, I think, was — surprised is not the right word, but it’s been a pleasant development.

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Not unexpectedly for a player early in his major-league tenure, Clark is trying to soak in as much information as possible and cover all his bases, Hinch said. That includes at the plate, where the young outfielder may be over-indexed on all the scouting reports and pitch analytics available to players.

For as naturally talented as Clark is, Hinch noted a key development to come for Clark will be the ability to quiet his mind, boil down the information into a few keys, and simplify his approach at the plate.

“He is so astute, so smart,” Hinch said. "This guy studies, he almost knows everything about the situation, everything about the pitcher, that it can somewhat too much. And as he matures and grows and tries and understands game situations, letting his natural talent go over as opposed to his studious side of his game, I think the natural ability will flourish.

“He can impact the ball. He doesn’t have to overthink. But as a young player, it doesn’t surprise me that he’s trying to cover all of his bases all the time. There is a see ball, hit ball component with him that I think will get better over time when he is more familiar.”

[frm710]

Speculation that Max Anderson will be up this week as well when rosters expand.

Peck, 24, was the Tigers’ seventh-round pick out of Pepperdine back in 2023. He’s a quality defensive shortstop who can also handle second or third base and is in the midst of a nice season at the plate. Peck has played at four levels in 2026, including a brief pair of injury rehab stints at Class-A and High-A. He’s spent the bulk of the year in Double-A but recently moved up to Triple-A, where he’s clobbered opposing pitchers through his first five games (hitting .500 with a home run in 19 plate appearances). Overall, in 69 games and 293 plate appearances, Peck has slashed .286/.336/.504 with 11 homers, 19 doubles, three triples, 22 steals (in 28 attempts), a 6.5% walk rate and a 24.9% strikeout rate.

MLB.com ranks Peck 20th among Tigers farmhands. He’s 25th at Baseball America and 27th at FanGraphs.

Tigers To Select John Peck

[socko]

Win just one for the Pecker.

[frm710]

https://x.com/cmccosky/status/2094526245606207733

[Martymcfly2017]

There is still tiger baseball

[jerseybanker]

Sloppy defense tonight along with lack of hitting. Not a good combination.

[Martymcfly2017]

Team as giving up kc about to past them

[stephenboyd57]

Another night, another delicious meal

[HSVLion]

Thank the LORD this team blew that 7-0 lead and sold at the deadline.

[SirLion]

I’m seriously starting to wonder if this team really has the future that we all think they have.

[Wolverine0611]

@frm710

Speculation that Max Anderson will be up this week as well when rosters expand

I would sure the hell hope so. I get he is primarily a 2nd baseman, which is crowded, but he can play 3rd. Hitting .307, OPS close to .900 and has 47 walks to 52 Ks ratio.

[HSVLion]

Dingler had a .538 OPS in August, his overall OPS dropped .080 points that month, and his BA is down to .249 from being like .278 not that long ago.

Have we ever seen a worse slump for a single hitter?

He’s also played now in one more game than he did all of last season, and we have a whole month left.

[Wolverine0611]

@HSVLion

Have we ever seen a worse slump for a single hitter?

My guess is we could look at some of Tork’s or Greene’s months last year to find something comparable. I think Dingler is tired but doesn’t want to come out of the lineup. AJ needs to sit him for a couple of games.

This season is lost. Expand the roster and see what some of the young guys can do. The old guys like McKinstry need to sit……a lot.

[Weaselpuppy]

After sitting through yesterday’s game and watching Rainey just be a bag of hot garbage I leaned over my buddy and said they’re dropping him Monday….

So much weak contact by the Tigers. Dingler is super mind forked right now and Ohtani is definitely hurt.

[Weaselpuppy]

[FreebirdPartDeux]

I remember thinking the Tigers should have selected Marcelo Mayer over Jackson Jobe. But, so far, they pretty much both are below average players.

[frm710]

It sounds like the Tigers want KM to focus on third base as that will be his main position going forward. IF that means no more of this constant rotation all over the field thank you thank you thank you.

[Sheepish]

so what are the thoughts on the offseason? hinch get one more year? a prove it year?

[goldenlions]

You couldn’t pay me to go to one of these games this week. And I live in Minnesota.

What a frustrating season, football can’t start soon enough.