With the 20th overall pick, the Blue Jays could select… Kevin McGonigle?

Photo credit:MLB.com

5 months ago

Today, we’ll take a look at our first position player in the series!

If you take a gander at MLB Pipeline and Baseball America, there are plenty of high school infielders ranked around where the Jays will pick. The player we’ll look at today – Kevin McGonigle – is one of those players.

Kevin McGonigle’s bio:

The 18-year-old middle infielder grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and grew up idolizing former Phillies player Chase Utley, just like Mac. It’s worth mentioning that Just Baseball had the Blue Jays selecting McGonigle with the 20th overall pick in their latest mock draft.

McGonigle helped lead the United States U18 team to a gold medal, a team that will have many players we will cover in this series.

McGonigle is committed to Auburn University. He currently attends Monsignor Bonner, a school in the Philadelphia suburb. No player has ever been drafted from the school, and the last time the Jays picked a prep player from Pennsylvania was in 2021, when they selected Luke Holman (did not sign).

Kevin McGonigle’s tools:

Both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline classify McGonigle as one of the best pure hitters in the class. He does a tremendous job barreling the ball, and avoids chasing on pitches not in the zone.

Although he showed gap and home run power during the season, the biggest question mark with the bat is the power. Standing at 5’10”, 187 lbs, he may end up being a hit-over-power guy when he is drafted. With that being said, Baseball America predicts that he could be a 20+ home run hitter with the power he’s added the past year.

Defensively, he has an average arm, leading some scouts to believe that the Keystone State native will move to the keystone position. He’s not an explosive athlete, but he’s smart and has high baseball IQ which will allow him to stay in the middle of the infield.

Kevin McGonigle’s grades:

Here are McGonigle’s grades according to Baseball America and MLB Pipeline.

Tool	Baseball America Grades	MLB Pipeline Grades
Hit	60	60
Power	50	50
Run	50	50
Arm	45	50
Field	45	50
Overall	N/A	50

Will the Blue Jays select Kevin McGonigle?:

The Blue Jays haven’t selected a prep position player in the first round since 2018, when they selected Jordan Groshans with the 12th overall pick.

With his future likely residing at second base, the Blue Jays may avoid selecting him 20th overall, as they stocked up on middle infielders in the 2022 draft (Josh Kasevich, Cade Doughty, Tucker Toman).

You also choose the best player available in the first round, so we’ll see if McGonigle is that guy on July 9th.