Tigers Young Sensation May Be Hitting Rookie Wall Amid Ice Cold Stretch
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The Detroit Tigers have not had the best last couple of weeks in terms of headlines as the team has dropped games on the field and lost players due to injury as well as even suspensions.
From Tarik Skubal undergoing surgery to the Framber Valdez incident which led to him being out for a start, it's been a turbulent time in the Motor City, and falling multiple games below .500 does not help things either.
Among all the noise though, one of their biggest bright spots from the first month of the season has now started to struggle mightily as well with young rookie Kevin McGonigle looking a bit lost at the plate over the last two weeks.
Kevin McGonigle is Struggling Badly for Tigers Right Now
It's no secret that the first month of McGonigle's big league career was as strong as Detroit has ever seen from a rookie, and it put him on the kind of category with names that rarely get thrown around in these types of conversations.
Over the month of April, he slashed an absurd .327/.426/.520, racking up 32 hits and 16 walks with just 14 strikeouts in 26 games. The last 15 days though have not been pretty as pitching starts to adjust to the youngster.
Headed into the series against the New York Mets, the last 11 games for McGonigle have seen him post a slash line of just .195/.327/.195 with six strikeouts. While he is still getting on base at a decent rate despite it not coming from the bat which is of course impressive for a young player, this team is in a spot where they need the best out of the infielder.
Tigers Need McGonigle to Bounce Back Soon
The rookie wall is going to be expected, especially for a player who set the absurd kind of expectations McGonigle did over his first month. How he bounces back from this current cold stretch is not only going to show a ton about the mental makeup of the 21-year-old, but also could determine how this team performs over the next few weeks.
It's not ideal, but McGonigle is already arguably the most important offensive player in this lineup, and if he's going through struggles, it will set the tone for the rest of the group. Baseball is a game of failure though, and this is something he needed to go through.
This week presents a great chance to get back on track as McGonigle tries to keep proving that he is already a star the likes of which cannot be ignored.
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Michael Brauner is a 2022 graduate of the University of Alabama with a degree in Sports Media. He covers various MLB teams across the On SI network and you can also find his work on Yellowhammer News covering the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers as well as on the radio producing and co-hosting 'The Opening Kickoff' every weekday morning on 105.5 WNSP FM in Mobile, Alabama.