One Player Tigers Need More From Next Season to Reach World Series Dreams
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The Detroit Tigers were on track to a very memorable season, in a positive way. They were the first team to 30 wins, then 40, then 50 and then 60. The Tigers had emerged as the front runners to take home the AL Pennant and earn a trip to the World Series. However their season was flipped on its head after the All-Star break.
The Cleveland Guardians had an historic comeback to take the division, luckily the Tigers were still able to make into the postseason but were sent home after a game five loss in the ALDS to the Mariners and while their perseverance was noteworthy they came up short of what their ultimate goal was, a championship.
Now the offseason is here and everyone is under a microscope. Management will have to go after another bat (or two) to help bulk up their line up but they also need more from some of their current guys, including utility man Zach McKinstry.
After earning his first All-Star selection and Silver Slugger Award it is hard to imagine why McKinstry is the player that the organization needs more from but he is and they do, specifically in the postseason where he batted .172 and had an OPS of .445.
McKinstry's 2025
At first glance it's easy to see this was the best season of his career as he was better across the board in his slash line, .259/.333/.438 with his most doubles (23), triples (11), home runs (12), RBI (49) and drawn walks (46). The problem wasn't his overall performance but the struggles that came and how long they lasted.
The reason McKinstry was rightfully selected to his first All-Star game was because he batted .285 while slugging .472 and stealing 15 bases in the first half of the season, but he looked nothing like the same player after the All-Star break.
Like the rest of his team McKinstry had a hard drop off in the second half of the year where he slashed .213/.278/.378. This downward spiral continued on into the playoffs as he had 10 strikeouts in eight games with no doubles, triples or home runs.
Zach McKinstry has gone wild pic.twitter.com/ivF2bh8ri6
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) June 1, 2025
Again, McKinstry wasn't the only player to have issues at the plate especially in October as only three batted over .212, but if the organization wants to avoid the same fate as 2025 then they will need much more from McKinstry as he is more than capable.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.