MLB's No. 23 prospect delivers 5-hit outing to punch High-A club's playoff ticket

The West Michigan Whitecaps have been dominant all season long -- but on Friday night, their offensive outburst took it to another level.

Needing just one win to clinch the Midwest League Eastern Division first-half crown, the Tigers’ High-A affiliate delivered a 20-6 rout of the Lansing Lugnuts at Jackson Field -- a route punctuated by a 13-run third inning in which each batter came to the plate twice. The Whitecaps, returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2018, will play the division's second-half winner in September as part of postseason play.

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The Whitecaps collected 10 hits and reached base 15 times in the third alone. The inning featured a pair of two-run homers from Seth Stephenson and Izaac Pacheco, as well as a three-run shot by John Peck.

Kevin McGonigle -- the Tigers’ No. 2 prospect -- tallied both a single and a double in the inning, part of a five-hit performance that continued his scorching-hot return to West Michigan.

McGonigle, who was reassigned from Single-A Lakeland in May, is hitting .429 with a 1.243 OPS through 19 games back in the Midwest League. During that stretch, the 20-year-old middle infielder has tallied 17 extra-base hits (14 doubles, three homers), driven in 20 runs and walked 14 times compared to just 12 strikeouts. He matched his previous pro-best with four hits and four runs scored Thursday -- then topped that hit total less than 24 hours later.

The offensive damage certainly didn’t stop with McGonigle.

Pacheco, Detroit’s 2021 second-round pick, launched two homers and finished 4-for-6 with three RBIs, raising his season OPS to .965. Peck also chipped in with a career-best seven RBIs as part of a three-hit showing. Right fielder Austin Murr joined McGonigle and Pacheco in the four-hit club, while all nine starters had multihit games. As a team, the Whitecaps finished with 26 hits and went 10-for-21 with runners in scoring position.

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West Michigan’s loaded lineup includes three Top 100 prospects in Max Clark (MLB No. 7), McGonigle (MLB No. 23), and Josue Briceño (MLB No. 77), and has quickly become one of the most potent offenses across the Minors.