SAN DIEGO — Kevin McGonigal quickly proved the Detroit Tigers made the right decision by adding him to their roster, becoming the third-youngest player with four or more hits on Opening Day in the last 100 major league seasons.
Manager AJ Hinch said, “What a start.” “He can kill.”
The 21-year-old rookie saw his first major league pitch for a bases-loaded, two-run double in a four-run first inning against San Diego on Thursday. He continued to thrive, getting hits in his next two at-bats as well as scoring his first major league run.
He added a fourth hit in the ninth inning and finished 4-5 with two RBI and two runs scored.
“I was nervous, but it’s weird – I feel like as soon as I started hitting my load, it just took off,” McGonigle told reporters after the game. “I felt great out there. Very confident. Just trying to keep that mentality.”
McGonigle, ESPN’s No. 2 prospect for the 2026 season, was the youngest Tigers player named to the Opening Day roster since Omar Infante in 2003.
“Everyone is right by my side,” McGonigle said. “If I have any questions, everyone tells me to go to them. This is the team to join right now, and I’m so happy I get the chance to share it with these guys.”
Ken Griffey Jr. (20 years, 139 days) and Delino DeShields Jr. (21 years, 84 days), who did so in 1990, were the only two players younger than McGonigal to have four or more hits on Opening Day in the last 100 seasons.
McGonigal led the line as the Tigers manned Nick Pivetta in support of two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal.
“(I told myself) it’s just another game,” McGonigal said. “I kept that mentality and I’m looking forward to continuing.”
Several family members were in attendance and McGonigal planned to give each of his parents a ball to be used in the game.
Batting sixth, he came up for the first time as a big leaguer with the bases loaded, one out and the Tigers leading 1–0 on a sunny 74-degree afternoon at Petco Park. He saw the first pitch down the right field line to give Colt Keith and Riley Green a 3–0 lead.
Hinch said, “He’s not going to be as nervous as that guy when he bats, and if he’s the nervous version of him, we’re going to be in for a fun year.” “I like the fact that he was aggressive on his pitches. Obviously that was a big hit to open up the game a little bit and give us some breathing room. It set the tone for a really good day for him and us.”
McGonigal then blasted a fly ball over the right field wall in the third and advanced to second for another double to move Spencer Torkelson to third base. They both scored on Parker Meadows’ single to left field.
According to ESPN Research, McGonigal is the first Tigers player in the last 80 seasons to get an extra-base hit in each of his first two plate appearances.
He beat out an infield single to shortstop in the fifth and drove in Dillon Dingler’s homer to make the score 8–0.
McGonigle, who had started at third base, eventually grounded out to seventh base when he grounded out to third baseman Manny Machado in shallow left.
McGonigle, a first-round pick in the 2023 draft, had a hot spring that allowed him to drop to Triple-A after playing just 46 games in Double-A last season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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