Detroit - Kevin McGonigle is deep into territory he hasn’t had to navigate before, and the Tigers are treating that as part of the assignment.
The rookie entered Saturday with 131 games and 585 plate appearances in his first big-league season, both career highs by a wide margin. That kind of workload is a new experience for a player whose previous high over any five-month stretch was 88 games and 397 plate appearances in Double-A last year. So when McGonigle went 0-for-14 and went three straight games without reaching base for the first time this season, it was fair to wonder whether the grind was catching up to him.
AJ Hinch wasn’t interested in going there.
“Kevin hit a ball last night (Aug. 28) that would’ve gone out of 22 of the 30 ballparks in this league,” he said of McGonigle’s 404-foot out to end the eighth inning. “Fatigue didn’t seem to be a factor.”
That doesn’t mean Hinch thinks August is easy. He was quick to say mental fatigue can creep in, and he made clear that’s part of what the Tigers are trying to push McGonigle through. The manager’s view is simple: if a player wants to be built for October, he has to survive the dog days that lead there.
“Mental fatigue is probably something every player goes through in August,” he said. “And what is ironic about that, you can concede to it and think August is a hurdle to clear. But if you want to be a good team and a player who is remembered over time, you’ve got to do something in October.
“August turns into September, which turns into October. We want to be a team that is two months away from fatigue.”
Saturday’s lineup reflected that thinking. McGonigle, a left-handed hitter, was back out there against another lefty starter, Blake Snell, one day after facing Tarik Skubal. Hinch framed it as part of the long haul, not a short-term rest plan.
“The tough love part is, you are out there,” Hinch said. “You want to be one of the best in the league, those players are out there.
I know workload management has become more in vogue to help players run the full race. But it’s never a 24-hour reset.
You have to stay in the fight mentally as much as you do physically.”
He pointed to veterans around the league, including Dodgers regulars Freddie Freeman and Mookie Best, and to McGonigle’s own idol, former Phillies star Chase Utley, who averaged 134 games a year over a 10-year stretch between ages 26 and 35.
“It’s hard to build endurance any other way but to do it,” Hinch said. “Part of this is fighting the good fight, hitting with tired hands and tired legs and still finding ways to contribute.”
McGonigle, 22, has still been one of baseball’s most productive players, sitting third in bWAR at 6.0. Even with a three-game hitless stretch, an error, and an ugly gash on his left index finger from hitting a helmet on a tag play at second base, he remains right in the middle of the battle Hinch wants him to keep fighting.
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