Our 2024 Detroit Tigers minor league award series continues
The Detroit Tigers are in the playoffs. It took a small miracle for that to happen, but it wasn’t an accident. And at least some of the credit for Detroit’s epic run to the postseason goes to the organization’s young hitters. Including last year’s winner of this award, Colt Keith.
And 2024 was another strong year for hitting development in the minor leagues. We probably won’t see as many rookie contributors to the Tigers in 2025, but most of Detroit’s top hitting prospects had good seasons. And they added a few more interesting bats at the trade deadline.
The only rough part of this season was the injuries. Interesting hitters like Josue Briceno, Peyton Graham, Eddys Leonard, Carson Rucker, and Cole Turney spent too much time on the Injured List to put up strong seasons. And even two of our three finalists missed sizeable chunks of their season. But there’s always next year.
In any event, let’s take a look as this year’s top offensive performers. Our voting for these awards was simple. Chris, Jerry, and Rogelio each ranked their top three hitters, and then we assigned points for each slot. Three points for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote, and one for third.
Detroit Tigers Hitter of the Year Award
Before we get to Hao-Yu Lee, let’s give some credit to a few of the other strong contenders.
Honorable Mention – Jake Holton
Jake Holton isn’t a big-league prospect by traditional standards. He’s already 26, and he’s a first baseman who stands out most for his plate discipline and glove. Holton is a decent hitter with solid power, too, but unfortunately the bar for first-base prospects is much higher than that. Still, we wanted to give him credit for an excellent season in Double-A Erie. Holton hit .279/.373/.459 with 14 home runs in 96 games for the SeaWolves. That was good for a wRC+ of 140, tied for the best in the system (min 400 plate appearances).
Honorable Mention – Andrew Navigato
Andrew Navigato began the year in Erie, his fourth season in Double A. But he quickly moved up to Triple-A Toledo, and he proved to be the most consistent Mud Hens batter all season. Navigato had a terrific all-around year, batting .271/.363/.500 while playing six different positions. He finished second in entire organization with 83 RBIs, and his 55 extra-base hits trailed only Riley Greene. And Navigato became just the fourth Tigers minor leaguer in the last 50 years to steal 20 bases and hit 20 home runs in the same season.
Honorable Mention – Gage Workman
Gage Workman landed one third-place vote from us after a spectacular season in Erie. No player was more instrumental in helping the SeaWolves to their 2nd consecutive Eastern League championship. Workman finished the season with a 140 wRC+ after batting .276/.366/.466, and he led the league in hits, extra-base hits, and RBIs. He also finished second in runs scored, third in home runs, fifth in stolen bases, and seventh in batting average. He should have taken home MVP honors. Just ask the Akron RubberDucks. In the deciding game of the Division Series Akron intentionally walked Workman three times.
🚨Erie Walk-Off Win🚨
Gage Workman launches a walk-off homer to dead center and the SeaWolves win 5-4. @SamLebo14 calls it. pic.twitter.com/w2ckcb01W0
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) August 31, 2024
3rd Place – Kevin McGonigle
Kevin McGonigle likely would’ve finished first in our voting if not for a pair of injuries. His season was bookended by hamstring and hamate ailments that limited him to just 74 games. But he was so good when he played that he still landed two third-place nods and one second-place vote from us. McGonigle was one of the toughest outs in the Florida State League, batting .326/.407/.470 with more walks than strikeouts.
The hits weren’t falling for him in High-A, but he continued to dominate the strike zone, with 11 walks to just 4 strikeouts in 14 games. He showed good wheels, going 22-for-24 on stolen base attempts. And though he was mostly content to hit singles and doubles, he showed occasional flashes of impressive power. It all added up to a 144 wRC+ for the year. That led all Detroit Tigers prospects with at least 300 plate appearances.
2nd Place – Max Clark
This was the closest vote in all of our categories. Max Clark landed two first place votes, but he finished second overall because of one fourth-place nod. But Max Clark’s season was an unqualified success, awards or no. Detroit’s first pick in 2023, Clark got off to a bit of a slow start, but he stayed healthy all year, he made adjustments, and he excelled. His 129 wRC+ was good for third among Tigers minor leaguers with at least 400 plate appearances, behind only Holton and Workman.
Max Clark really took off in the second half of the season. After June 20th he hit .280/.372/.470 with 24 of his 36 extra-base hits, good for a 140 wRC+. He stole 29 bases on the year. He crushed left-handed pitching to the tune of a .990 OPS. And he continued to perform while moving up to High-A West Michigan. In short, he was every bit the catalytic, charismatic ballplayer the Detroit Tigers hoped they were drafting. He also appears to be the biggest Tigers fan on the planet.
1st Place – Hao-Yu Lee
As we said, this was awfully close. Lee landed one first-place vote and two second-place nods to edge out Clark by one point. But it might not have been close if Lee managed to stay healthy all year. Like Clark, Lee got off to a bit of a slow start. That was understandable, considering he was among the youngest players in the Eastern League. But then Lee tore the cover off the ball for two months, posting a .963 OPS with 22 extra-base hits and 10 home runs in 45 games through May and June.
Lee earned a trip the the Futures Game, but unfortunately the injury trouble arose soon after. He was hit in the head twice in the span of eight days. He missed a week of action after the second headshot, and then he began dealing with wrist and back issues. Lee still managed to bat .292 over his final 25 games, but his power output was muted. He ultimately went on the full-season Injured List with lumbar spine inflammation. One wonders what he could have accomplished with a full, healthy season. But Hao-Yu Lee still managed to bat .298/.363/.488 in 87 games. He clubbed 12 homers, stole 16 bases, and finished with a 141 wRC+. It was a terrific season, and there’s a strong chance he makes his MLB debut in 2025.
Hao-Yu Lee AGAIN. He hits a 3-run blast to center to put Erie up 3-0 in the first. Give him 9 home runs on the year and a 10-game hitting streak. @Greg_Gania has the call. pic.twitter.com/tCBPerFnxp
— Tigers ML Report (@tigersMLreport) June 5, 2024
That’s it for today’s list, but check back soon for our other awards.
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Joe Rampe 
Colin Arthur 
Rogelio Castillo