The Tigers future looks very bright.
An already busy day in the world of Detroit Tigers baseball got even more interesting this evening. Top prospects Kevin McGonigle, Max Clark, and Josue Briceño have all been promoted to Double-A Erie.
With the trio absolutely mauling the Midwest League and leading the High-A West Michigan Whitecaps to a ridiculous 54-26 record, the promotions are probably a bit overdue. When the first half of the minor league season ended two weeks ago, we though that might be the trigger for their promotions. Then, when they weren’t promoted but were named to the All-Star Futures Game roster during the All-Star break, it seemed like the Tigers might wait until after the Whitecaps last homestand before the break. Instead, it will be a very different roster when the Whitecaps welcome in the Lake County Captains this week.
Meanwhile, the Erie SeaWolves just got way better. McGonigle, Clark, and Briceño join fellow top prospect catcher Thayron Liranzo and breakout prospect Max Anderson at the Double-A level.
McGonigle has been an absolute monster again this year. After most of the first six weeks of the season with an ankle injury, the shortstop has hit .358/.450/.617 in 42 games, posting a 196 wRC+ with a 10.5 percent strikeout rate compared to a 13.6 percent walk rate. He has seven homers and 21 doubles on the young season. There is a growing consensus that McGonigle is the best pure hitting prospect in the game, and the initial estimates of his power potential on draft day look fairly laughable at this point as he posts consistently strong exit velocities and maxes out beyond 110 mph.
Max Clark’s power numbers continue to draw a little scrutiny, but he too has been an on-base machine this season. Clark is slashing .284/.429/.424 with a 150 wRC+ and much like last year, the power has started to come on as he settled in at the High-a level. Clark continues to play a good center field. He’s stolen 12 bases and hit seven homers, 11 doubles, and a pair of triples in 67 games. All this while walking 19.6 percent of the time against a strikeout rate of just 16.9 percent.
Briceño is the only minor surprise here. We knew that Tigers player development chief, Ryan Garko, wanted to promote them all together. The question was Briceño’s readiness behind the dish. He continues to show good growth as a catcher, but the Tigers have been careful with his workload after his PCL sprain and subsequent knee surgery last year.
There is no question about the bat. Briceño has 15 homers in 240 plate appearances, slashing .292/.421/.604 with a strikeout rate of 16.7 percent and a walk rate of 17.1 percent. In short, he’s an absolute monster with plus power and contact ability, and should continue to fill out his six-foot-four frame with a little more muscle as he gets into his twenties.
All three players are 20 years old. McGonigle turns 21 in August, Briceño in September, and Clark in December. Still, they are very prepared to tackle the next level. As left handed hitters, they’ll see a much tougher crop of lefties than they’ve ever dealt with before. That will be one test. For Clark, the question is power. For McGonigle and Briceño, the remaining questions revolve mainly around their future defensive home. We should learn a few things about them down the stretch with their new club.
They’ll begin with the 52-29 SeaWolves this week on the road against the Harrisburg Senators. That will get them to All-Star week, and then the first chance for the home crowd to see them in Erie will be July 18-27 against the Chesapeake BaySox and then the Somerset Patriots in a nine-game homestand. And of course this should precipitate a series of corresponding movement throughout the farm system.
The Detroit Tigers future looks extremely bright. All three are essentially untradeable, and with a good group of prospects around them, should form the basis for long-term sustainable success for the organization.
We’re excited to see them take the next step.