The Detroit Tigers earned their fifth All-Star selection on Wednesday when Zach McKinstry was named as a replacement for Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena.
McKinstry, 30, is in the midst of a breakout season for the Tigers, who have Major League Baseball’s best record at 59-35. In 85 games, McKinstry is batting .286 with 7 home runs and a .826 OPS. McKinstry is also second in the American League in triples with eight.
McKinstry has been with the Tigers since 2023 largely as a utility player. He has hit .241 with 20 home runs and a .689 OPS in that span.
The 6-year Major League veteran broke his silence on his career defining moment, recalling with Tony Garcia of the Detroit Free Press of the moment he had with manager A.J. Hinch.
“Super cool,” McKinstry said of his All-Star selection. “When I looked around the room, I kind of felt it was coming and it was just a pretty cool moment to have those guys in there with me. A.J. just said 'all the players here are All Stars' so that was pretty cool.”
“Just everybody was so proud of him,” Hinch added. “Very rewarding moment for me as a manager, but more importantly for [McKinstry] as a player amongst the elite.”
McKinstry joins Javier Baez, Gleyber Torres, Riley Greene, and Tarik Skubal as the Tigers’ representatives at the Midsummer Classic. Per Garcia, that is the most the Tigers have had since 2013, when they brought six players to the All-Star game.