BRADENTON, FL – The Detroit Tigers included shortstop Kevin McGonigle in their preliminary pool of 40 players for the Spring Breakout game, but he isn’t on the official 27-player roster.
There’s a reason for that.
The Tigers’ top prospects will clash with prospects from the Pittsburgh Pirates in a showcase on Friday, March 20 (7:35 p.m., MLB Network), at LECOM Park in Bradenton. For the third year in a row, Hall of Fame shortstop Alan Trammell – a special assistant in the Tigers’ front office – will manage the Tigers’ Spring Breakout roster.
But McGonigle won’t play.
That’s because McGonigle remains in consideration for a spot on the Tigers’ Opening Day roster in the 2026 season as part of MLB spring training. Opening Day is March 26 against the San Diego Padres – just six days after the Spring Breakout game.
“Their focus is on big-league camp and trying to continue to make an impression and state their case to be part of our puzzle,” manager A.J. Hinch said before Wednesday’s spring game, referencing McGonigle and other prospects still in MLB camp. “Rather than send mixed messages of what they should be doing on Friday, we’re going to have them focus on what they’ve been doing for the last six weeks in big-league camp.”
McGonigle – a 21-year-old who hasn’t played above Double-A – will be available to play shortstop for the big-league Tigers behind left-hander Tarik Skubal against the Philadelphia Phillies at 1:05 p.m. Friday at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater.
Six and a half hours later, the prospect Tigers will play against the Pirates in a showcase event featuring several rising stars in the minor leagues, including outfielder Max Clark, shortstop Bryce Rainer, outfielder Cris Rodriguez and shortstop Jordan Yost.
McGonigle is the Tigers’ No. 1 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. He also ranks as the consensus No. 2 prospect in baseball, trailing only Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin.
But the Tigers continue to treat McGonigle like a big leaguer, not a prospect.
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This spring, McGonigle is hitting .289 (11-for-38) with three home runs, 12 walks (23.5% walk rate) and nine strikeouts (17.6% strikeout rate) across 18 games, spanning 51 plate appearances.
He has two hits – both home runs – in his past 29 plate appearances during Grapefruit League play, along with eight walks (and one hit by pitch) over the 10-game stretch.
Like McGonigle, three other prospects – second/third baseman Max Anderson, shortstop John Peck and utility player Trei Cruz – weren’t placed on the Tigers’ Spring Breakout roster because they remain in MLB spring training.
“All of them could easily have been scratched from the big-league game and put into the prospect game,” Hinch said, “but we’re doing it the other way to let them continue their day and continue their work. I expect all of that group to play in that game in Clearwater.”
Anderson, Peck and Cruz project to begin the season with Triple-A Toledo, while McGonigle projects for his MLB debut on the Opening Day roster – though the Tigers have not finalized their 26-man roster, with decisions expected to go down to the wire.
As for the 27-player Spring Breakout roster, the squad features 10 members of MLB Pipeline’s top-30 prospect list for the Tigers’ farm system: Clark (No. 2), Rainer (No. 3), Rodriguez (No. 8), Yost (No. 9), catcher Michael Oliveto (No. 13), right-handed reliever Dylan Smith (No. 21), third baseman Izaac Pacheco (No. 22), shortstop/second baseman Jude Warwick (No. 24), first baseman/catcher Eduardo Valencia (No. 25) and outfielder Jackson Strong (No. 29).
It marks Rainer’s return from right shoulder surgery.
The 20-year-old – drafted out of high school by the Tigers at No. 11 overall in 2024 – underwent season-ending surgery in June 2025 to repair a dislocated right shoulder.
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2026 Spring Breakout roster
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Kevin McGonigle won’t play in Spring Breakout game. What does it mean?
Reporting by Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
