The Detroit Tigers decided to let rookie Kevin McGonigle start the 2026 season on the MLB roster, and boy, what a decision that turned out to be for the franchise. From the first game to the last, McGonigle proved he belongs and is now one of the faces of the organization.

Becoming an All-Star in his first season, posting a 7.1 WAR with 18 home runs, a .278 batting average and 28 doubles, all led McGonigle to earn an American League Rookie of the Year nomination Monday, Nov. 2.

McGonigle has been a Rookie of the Year favorite since the middle of the summer, and will contest for the award against Parker Messick of the Cleveland Guardians and Payton Tolle of the Boston Red Sox. With momentum on his side, the award winner will be announced next Monday, Nov. 9.

The Trend McGonigle Could Continue

The Tigers have had four players in franchise history who've won the American League Rookie of the Year Award: Mark Fidrych, Lou Whitaker, Justin Verlander, and Michael Fulmer. Funny enough, the last two Detroit players to win the award began a trend they didn't know they had begun.

Verlander became Rookie of the Year in 2006, helping lead the Tigers to the World Series for the first time since 1984. Verlander would go on to become one of the best starting pitchers in franchise history. However, it took a Tigers player a decade to win the award again.

Fulmer won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2016 after a strong season with Detroit, in which he posted a 3.06 ERA in 26 games, finishing 10th in Cy Young Award voting that season. Fulmer's career didn't pan out as well as Verlander's did in the Motor City, but he was the promising player the franchise needed for the future.

McGonigle could continue this "Detroit wins Rookie of the Year every 10 years" trend with a victory.

Now, for the first time since Whitaker in 1978, the Tigers have a position player with a strong chance of bringing in the award. McGonigle became the first rookie to post at least 97 runs, 28 doubles, 18 home runs, 72 RBIs and 95 walks since Ted Williams in 1939. Sounds like an award-winning season already.

Keep in mind, if McGonigle wins the award, the Tigers will receive an extra pick in the next MLB Draft at the end of the first round under the Prospect Promotion Incentive, since McGonigle was a late first-round pick himself.