Baltimore — There he was again. On the lineup card. Leading off and starting at shortstop.
Tigers’ manager AJ Hinch would love to give 21-year-old rookie Kevin McGonigle a day off. He had planned to give him a game off against the Guardians, who had two lefty starters.
But how do you sit one of your most consistent producers during a stretch like the Tigers are in?
“Yeah, not with how things have been going and how he’s been doing,” Hinch said. “He’s holding up fine.”
Yes, he is. Before Friday, he’d played in 49-of-51 games and his 2.7 WAR was tied with Cody Bellinger and Shea Langeliers for second best in the American League. Only Bobby Witt, Jr., has a higher WAR (3.3).
“A lot of this workload management stuff is meant to be proactive,” Hinch said. “And we haven’t been able to be proactive with where we are at.”
The Tigers came into Camden Yards 11 games under .500 and on a six-game losing streak.
“This a was a tough week,” Hinch said. “He’s moving fine. He’s performing fine. He looks fine. We haven’t had the opportunity to be proactive. We’re going to dig out of this together and he gives us the best chance to do that.”
He’s not the only player having to soldier a heavier load because of the over-stuffed injury list. Riley Greene (51), Spencer Torkelson (50), Colt Keith (46) and Dillon Dingler (45) are all playing daily too.
“We’re playing pretty much the same nine or 10 guys with a couple of bench players, which is different than how we’ve been able to do it the last couple of years,” Hinch said. “It’s no secret that we are not in a great place on multiple fronts and we’re trying to work through it.”
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: No time to rest: Struggling Tigers keep leaning on rookie McGonigle
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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