Zach

McKinstry

McKinstry roped a one-out triple into the right field corner off of left-hander Cade Povich in the second inning and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Wenceel Perez. He also tripled to left field in the fifth inning, but the Tigers couldn’t cash him in that time. He’s now tied with Jarren Duran for the MLB lead with seven three-baggers on the season. He continues to excel in a utility role for the Tigers, slashing .276/.361/.438 with three homers, 19 RBI and five stolen bases.

McKinstry hustled out a leadoff triple off of Kris Bubic to open the third inning. He then made a quick decision and scampered home on a wild pitch to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. That would wind up being the only tally for either team in the game. The versatile 30-year-old finished the day 1-for-3 and is now hitting .267/.358/.420 with three homers, 19 RBI and four stolen bases on the season.

The homer was just his second in 202 career plate appearances against lefties. McKinstry was a .205 hitter versus southpaws coming into the season, but he’s at .361 (17-for-47) right now. Righties, on the other hand, have been a problem for him lately; he came into the day with a .214/.263/.315 line overall in his previous 20 games and 76 plate appearances.

McKinstry victimized Blue Jays’ right-hander Bowden Francis for his 349-foot (98.9 mph EV) solo shot in the fourth inning that increased the Tigers’ lead to 2-0. The versatile 30-year-old also worked a walk in the contest, reaching base safely in two of his four plate appearances. He has done a terrific job for the Tigers so far this season, slashing .286/.374/.429 with a pair of homers and 17 RBI.

Jung just didn’t have it in his limited time with Detroit, as the 24-year-old went just 5-for-45 before the Tigers had seen enough. With the infielder now in Toledo, Zach McKinstry and Andy Ibanez will likely split time at the hot corner. Neither is worthy of a fantasy addition.

After a hot stretch at the end of April, McKinstry is now 4-for-31 (.129) with 13 strikeouts and just four walks in nine games to start May. He doesn’t need to be held in shallower formats.

McKinstry has split time between the outfield corners for Detroit over the first six-plus weeks of the regular season, so it’s notable that he’s back at shortstop, not newly-minted starting center fielder Javier Báez, for Sunday’s showdown with Trey Sweeney getting a rare day off. It certainly appears that Báez is going to stick in center field until further notice, even when Sweeney is out of the lineup.

Greene will get a break and likely return to the lineup for the second game of the twin-billing. Zach McKinstry will get the start in left field while Greene rests.

The Tigers probably would have non-tendered McKinstry over the winter had he not agreed to a deal before the deadline. They’re awfully glad he did now, as he’s come through with a .314/.424/.471 line while getting a whole lot more time than expected in the early going. We’re not at all optimistic that he’ll keep it up, but it’s been a fun time thus far.

Batting in the third spot in the lineup once again, McKinstry came through with three hits for the Tigers Sunday. The 29-year-old utility man tied the game with a two-out RBI single in the fifth inning and put the Tigers in front with an RBI single in the seventh inning. McKinstry is hitting .288 with an .809 OPS and 11 RBI this year. He’ll continue to be a fixture in the Tigers lineup until he cools off at the plate or Matt Vierling and Parker Meadows return from the injured list.