Detroit

Tigers

McGonigle is one of the best prep hitters in the class and arguably could be the best hitter in the entire class. His bat-to-ball skills are elite, and he consistently finds the barrel and can seemingly place the ball wherever he likes. While he hasn’t shown over-the-fence power, The 18-year-old middle infielder constantly racks up extra-base hits with his all-fields approach. He’s a fringy runner, so don’t expect too many stolen bases in his future. He currently plays shortstop but is most likely best suited for second base.

Viewed by most evaluators as the top prep player in this year’s draft class, Clark is a Vanderbilt commit, but likely will forgo school after being selected in the top- overall. The 18-year-old left-handed outfielder projects as a true center fielder with more polish offensively than most top prospects out of high school. He’s probably not going to offer the top-notch power numbers he might need to become a superstar, but that’s the closest thing to a knock on his game. He’s a terrific all-around talent and should make an impact for the Tigers in the next few years.

To clear a spot on the club’s 40-man roster, Jake Marisnick was designated for assignment. Wingenter will continue to work at Triple-A Toledo through the All-Star break before potentially rejoining the Tigers’ bullpen.

With Akil Baddoo and Riley Greene returning from the injured list, it was an inevitability that Marisnick would be out of a job. He showed enough during his time with the Tigers though that he could garner another opportunity through waivers.

Skubal threw 57 pitches last time out and 63 today. Hopefully, he can get to five innings in his next start to make a win a possibility. He’s certainly throwing well in his return from flexor tendon surgery; his fastball velocity is up about 1.5 mph from last year.

Lange retired Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to start the ninth in a two-run game, but he then walked Matt Chapman on five pitches and gave up a game-tying homer to Danny Jansen. This makes 14 earned runs allowed in 12 1/3 innings for Lange since June 4. There’s a case for the Tigers making the switch to Jason Foley in the ninth, though they’ll probably keep waiting and hoping Lange starts stringing together more quality outings.

The Tigers were obviously right not to wait until the second half to activate Greene; he’s gone 4-for-7 with two walks in two games since returning from the stress reaction in his leg. There’s a very good chance he would have been the Tigers’ All-Star if he hadn’t gotten hurt at the end of May.

An MRI revealed Alexander had a partially torn lat but it can heal without surgery. If all goes well, he will begin a throwing program in October and be ready to go next spring.

Vierling will start Sunday’s game on the bench. The 26-year-old outfielder has played nine games in a row and will get some rest before the All-Star break. Vierling is hitting a respectable .282/.346/.423 with seven homers and five stolen bases across 257 plate appearances. Akil Baddoo will start in left field and bat sixth in his place.

Greene reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances during his return to Detroit’s lineup after missing nearly six weeks due to a stress reaction in his left fibula. He showed zero signs of rust in this one, and appears poised for a monster second half.