Auburn shortstop commit Kevin McGonigle selected by Detroit Tigers in 2023 MLB Draft

Auburn shortstop commit Kevin McGonigle was selected by Detroit Tigers with the No. 37 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.

He went to Upper Darby Township (Pa.) Monsignor Bonner and hit .474 his senior year heading into the state playoffs. McGonigle played on the United States U-18 national team last September at the U-18 Baseball World Cup in Florida. He started all nine games for the U.S. as the team won the championship.

McGonigle is the No. 33 overall recruit on MLB.com’s prospect ranking heading into the 2023 MLB Draft.

“McGonigle, who also won a gold medal on USA Baseball’s 18u team, might be one of the best pure hitters in the class, at least in terms of bat-to-ball skills,” MLB.com’s scouting report on McGonigle reads. “He’s not afraid to be aggressive and attack fastballs early in counts, trusting his innate knack for finding the barrel and his overall approach to not chase pitches out of the zone. If there’s any question about his offensive profile, it’s about his future power, but he showed plenty of extra-base, and over-the-fence, pop to all fields against excellent competition over the summer.

More on the 2023 MLB Draft

The 2023 Major League Baseball Draft will begin during All-Star week, with the first two rounds getting underway at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 9. Rounds 3-10 will then begin at 2 p.m. ET on Monday, July 10, with rounds 11-20 starting at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 11.

This year’s MLB Draft is a historic one, as a draft lottery was used to determine the order for the first time. The Washington Nationals, Pittsburgh Pirates and Oakland Athletics each had a 16.5% chance to receive the No. 1 overall pick. Ultimately, Pittsburgh won the right to have the first selection, with Washington finishing right behind them at No. 2. Oakland, however, fell all the way down to No. 6 overall.

While the MLB Draft is always unpredictable, the consensus is that this year’s top prospects both hail from LSU, who won the 2023 College World Series. Pitcher Paul Skenes and outfielder Dylan Crews headline this year’s class, which is considered a deep one.

Within the first ten rounds of the draft, each slot is assigned a certain value. Each team has a bonus pool that they are able to spend on these picks, and players will sign at, above or below their assigned slot value.

In rounds 11-20, there is no assigned slot value and MLB teams are free to spend up to $150,000 to sign their picks from the second half of the draft. If they exceed the $150,000 mark, that added amount will be deducted from their bonus pool.

Following the final day of the 2023 MLB Draft, selected players like Kevin McGonigle will have until August 1 to sign a contract.