Detroit Tigers utility player Zach McKinstry named to 2025 MLB All-Star Game
McKinstry missed out on the initial round of All-Star selections, but is now the fifth Tiger named to the 2025 American League All-Star team along with ace Tarik Skubal, second baseman Gleyber Torres and outfielders Javier Báez and Riley Greene. Of the five Tigers named to the 2025 All-Star team, only McKinstry is a first-time All-Star. Greene, Báez and Torres will all be starters.
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The quintet of Tigers will suit up for the AL in the 95th iteration of the All-Star Game at 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 15 (Fox) at Atlanta's Truist Park. The five All-Star nods are the most for the franchise since six Tigers (Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, Torii Hunter, Jhonny Peralta, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander) made the 2013 AL squad.
McKinstry is in his third season with the Tigers organization after arriving from the Chicago Cubs via trade on March 27, 2023.
He played in 148 games in 2023 but had a below-average season at the plate, while his batting regressed even further over 118 games in 2024.
But McKinstry is having his best season ever in 2025.
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The Central Michigan alumnus — the first-ever MLB All-Star from CMU — entered Saturday slashing .289/.361/.462 for a career-high .823 OPS in 303 plate appearances over 80 games for the Tigers in 2025. That includes a career-high eight triples, good for second in the American League. McKinstry is also on pace to set career highs in hits, home runs and RBIs, and is tied for third among regular Tigers in OPS+ (130), behind Greene (150) and Torres (131).
As well as McKinstry has been hitting, he has arguably been even more valuable on defense.
On a roster featuring many multi-positional players, McKinstry is perhaps the most versatile, having made starts at five different positions for the Tigers in 2025. He's also second on the team in Statcast's Fielding Run Value (2) behind catcher Dillon Dingler (8).
As a result of his defensive utility and improved offense, McKinstry is second on the team among position players in both FanGraphs' and Baseball Reference's version of WAR (2.7 and 2.6, respectively). His 2.6 bWAR is already double his previous season-high, 1.3 in 2023. He has also provided exceptional value on the basepaths, landing in the 96th percentile in baserunning run value according to Statcast.
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MORE TIGERS ALL-STARS: Gleyber Torres bet on himself and so did Detroit Tigers. Now it's time for an All-Star party
McKinstry fell off the All-Star ballot after Phase 1 of voting, finishing 76,000 votes shy of second-place finisher Alex Bregman among AL third basemen. Cleveland's José Ramirez finished in first place with 2.7 million votes and went on to win the AL All-Star starting spot in Phase 2 voting.
You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Zach McKinstry an All-Star: Detroit Tiger named to MLB All-Star Game
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