Kevin McGonigle is proving to be one of baseball’s top prospects, regardless of age.
But among 21-year-olds, at least according to MLB Pipeline, there’s no one better.
The outlet on Tuesday listed its top prospects at each age, from 16-year-olds to the ripe old age of 25. McGonigle, the Detroit Tigers infield prospect who is ranked No. 2 overall in MLB by both Pipeline and Baseball America, was Pipeline’s pick at 21.
“McGonigle is perhaps the best pure hitter in the Minor Leagues …,” MLB.com‘s Ben Weinrib writes. “Health was about the only thing that held him back this year, and he made up for it with Most Valuable Player honors at the Arizona Fall League. Growing up in a Philadelphia suburb, McGonigle looked up to (former Phillies second baseman) Chase Utley and is on a path to have a career similar to his childhood idol.”
The Tigers selected McGonigle with the No. 37 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft out of Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast High School in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. He has rocketed up the Tigers’ organizational ladder — as well as the prospect rankings — since, finishing the season at Double-A Erie. He entered the 2025 season as the game’s No. 23 overall prospect, according to Baseball America, and put together a season in which he slashed a combined .305/.408/.583/.991 at three levels (including a rehab stint at low-A Lakeland), with 19 home runs, 80 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. More than half of his 101 hits (52) went for extra bases.
McGonigle, who has played primarily at shortstop in the minors, is expected to get a long look from the Tigers in spring training come February.
McGonigle only trails Pittsburgh Pirates’ Konnor Griffin in Baseball America and Pipeline’s prospect hierarchy. Not surprisingly, Griffin is Pipeline’s pick as the top 19-year-old.
Tigers outfield prospect Max Clark was Pipeline’s runner-up among 20-year-olds, behind UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, the favorite to be the top pick in 2026 MLB Draft. Like McGonigle, Clark rose to Double-A Erie in 2025. The fleet-footed center fielder, selected No. 3 overall in the 2023 MLB Draft, hit a combined .271 with an .810 OPS across Single-A West Michigan and Erie, with 14 home runs and 19 stolen bases.
