The Detroit Tigers are 72-79 and sitting third in the American League Central. They have won six straight games, but the season as a whole has been a disappointment in Detroit. The one thing that has gone right from March on is rookie shortstop Kevin McGonigle, and ESPN just put that in writing.

Kevin McGonigle Has Been the Tigers’ Best Player

McGonigle is 22 years old and has been every bit as good as advertised in his first big league season. He was named to the American League All-Star team in July. In 146 games, he is hitting .273 with 17 home runs and 65 RBIs, and he has stolen 12 bases in 15 attempts.

His on-base percentage is .375, his slugging percentage is .424 and his OPS is .800. The number that stands out most in his rookie season is his 6.7 WAR.

Bradford Doolittle Reveals Why Kevin McGonigle Has Been a Success

Bradford Doolittle of ESPN went through the biggest success story and the biggest disappointment for all 30 MLB teams in a column published Tuesday. For the Tigers, he landed on McGonigle as the success. Doolittle wrote:

“Flashing back to the spring, if you told any Tigers fan that their team, which made the playoffs the past two seasons, was about to get a rookie season from prospect Kevin McGonigle that immediately marked him as the team’s best player, that fan would have been thinking about how close to 100 wins the Tigers might get.

Instead, Detroit remains well under .500 even with McGonigle surpassing the six-win mark on the way to a probable AL Rookie of the Year award. An even better race: Can McGonigle walk more than he strikes out as a 21-year-old rookie? He’s at 88 walks and 89 strikeouts, so it’s going to be close.”

Those walk numbers have already moved. McGonigle is now at 91 walks against 89 strikeouts, which means he has pulled ahead in the race Doolittle flagged. The plate discipline has been a theme all season, and it is what put him on a rookie list bookended by Ted Williams earlier this month. One note on the age: Baseball-Reference still lists McGonigle at 21 because it files players under their age on June 30. He turned 22 on Aug. 18.

Heavy Favorite to Win American League Rookie of the Year

FanDuel Sportsbook has McGonigle at -900 to win the American League Rookie of the Year, meaning a bettor would have to risk $900 to win $100. With less than two weeks left in the regular season, the race is effectively over. McGonigle could sit out the rest of the way and still walk off with the award.