The Tigers placed McKinstry on the 10-day injured list Friday with left hip/abdominal inflammation.
McKinstry was forced from Wednesday's game against the Royals with a couple of issues, as he was also said to be dealing with a scraped chest. It's been a tough start to the 2026 campaign for the 2025 All-Star, as McKinstry is slashing just .209/.261/.326 across 46 plate appearances. In a corresponding move, the Tigers recalled Hao-Yu Lee from Triple-A Toledo.
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Tigers' Zach McKinstry: Will undergo further testing on hip
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Manager A.J. Hinch said Thursday that McKinstry will undergo further testing on his injured hip, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.
According to Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic, McKinstry is also dealing with an arm/shoulder issue and a scraped chest. McKinstry is "not moving around well" Thursday after he was pulled from Wednesday's game following a collision with Jac Caglianone. "We're going to continue to get him looked at," Hinch added. It sounds like McKinstry could be looking at a possible trip to the injured list. The utility man has not had a good start to the season at the plate, slashing .209/.261/.326 with one home run, five RBI, two runs scored and a 3:10 BB:K across 46 plate appearances. McKinstry posted a career-best .771 OPS last season and was named an All-Star.
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Tigers' Zach McKinstry: Battling sore hip
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McKinstry was pulled from Wednesday's game against Kansas City with hip soreness, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.
McKinstry left the game after he came up hobbling following a collision with Jac Caglianone in the seventh inning. Manager A.J. Hinch said after the game that he was always planning to keep McKinstry on the bench Thursday, so he'll have an extra day to recover before potentially returning to the starting nine Friday.
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Tigers' Zach McKinstry: Exits after collision
Rotowire
McKinstry was removed from Wednesday's game against the Royals after colliding with Jac Caglianone in the seventh inning, Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reports.
A grounder to third base put McKinstry in the path of the running Caglianone, causing the former to trip and come up favoring his left leg. The severity of McKinstry's injury remains unknown, but any missed time would likely open up more opportunities for Matt Vierling and Wenceel Perez.
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Tigers' Zach McKinstry: Big day against Cards
Rotowire
McKinstry went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI in Saturday's 11-6 win over St. Louis.
Getting the start in right field and batting seventh before shifting to third base later in the contest, McKinstry got in on a 12-hit, four-homer barrage from the Tigers by launching a Dustin May sweeper into the right-field seats for a two-run shot in the fourth inning. It was McKinstry's first extra-base hit, first run and first RBI of the year, and through five games the 30-year-old utility player is batting .250 (4-for-16) with an 0:4 BB:K.
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Tigers' Zach McKinstry: Heading to bench Wednesday
Rotowire
McKinstry is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Diamondbacks.
McKinstry had started in three of the Tigers' last four matchups against right-handed pitchers, but he'll take a seat Wednesday against righty Zac Gallen. The final spot in Detroit's everyday lineup versus righties looks like it could come down to McKinstry and Javier Baez, but neither player has done much in the early going to take control of a regular role. McKinstry has gone 1-for-8 with three strikeouts thus far, while Baez has two hits in 11 at-bats.
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Tigers' Zach McKinstry: Reaches deal with Tigers
Rotowire
McKinstry agreed to a one-year, $4.2 million contract with the Tigers on Thursday to avoid arbitration, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reports.
McKinstry took a massive step forward at the plate in 2025, finishing the year with a .259/.333/.438 slash line alongside 12 homers, 49 RBI, 68 runs scored and 19 stolen bases across 511 regular-season plate appearances. He doesn't seem to have a clear path to playing time at any one position in 2026, though he should still be able to crack the starting nine with some regularity thanks to his defensive versatility.
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Tigers' Zach McKinstry: Goes deep off bench Saturday
Rotowire
McKinstry went 1-for-2 with a solo home run in Saturday's 6-5 loss to Atlanta.
The veteran utility player appeared as a pinch hitter for Andy Ibanez in the sixth inning and promptly launched his 12th home run of the season. McKinstry has been a surprising source of offense all year, as the 12 long balls are already a new career high, as are his 49 RBI. McKinstry is also sporting a .769 OPS through 138 games, which is well ahead of his career .679 mark.
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Tigers' Zach McKinstry: Out Wednesday with back issue
Rotowire
McKinstry (back) is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Yankees, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.
McKinstry is day-to-day will back stiffness, which resulted in him being scratched from the lineup ahead of Tuesday's 12-2 win. He'll remain on the bench Wednesday, though even if fully healthy, the left-handed-hitting utility player might have sat anyway with southpaw Carlos Rodon on the bump for New York.
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Tigers' Zach McKinstry: Battling back stiffness
Rotowire
McKinstry was scratched from the lineup ahead of Tuesday's game against the Yankees due to upper-back stiffness.
McKinstry lost what had been a six-game hitting streak during Sunday's contest, and his back will now force him to the bench for Tuesday's series opener. While he recovers, Trey Sweeney will start at shortstop and bat ninth.
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Tigers' Zach McKinstry: Drives in two in loss
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McKinstry went 2-for-3 with a walk, a triple, a run scored and two RBI in Monday's 10-8 loss to the Mets.
McKinstry continued his nice stretch at the plate, as he's now batting .323 over his last 10 games with a home run, five RBI and six runs scored. Monday's triple was the utility player's 11th of the season, which is seven more than anyone else on the team. On the year, McKinstry is now sporting a .789 OPS, which would be a new career best.
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Tigers' Zach McKinstry: Idle Saturday
Rotowire
McKinstry isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Royals.
McKinstry will sit down Saturday after making seven consecutive starts, going 7-for-24 with a homer, three RBI and four runs scored in the process. Trey Sweeney will take his place at shortstop and bat eighth.
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Tigers' Zach McKinstry: Reaches three times in loss
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McKinstry went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI in Tuesday's 7-6 extra-inning loss to the Athletics.
McKinstry has been on a nice run lately, as he's batting .323 over his last 10 games with a home run, two stolen bases, four RBI and five runs scored. The veteran utility player has had a strong year overall, slashing .265/.342/.448 across 120 contests. It's been a big offensive jump for McKinstry, who has a career slash line of just .232/.300/.381 in six MLB seasons.
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Tigers' Zach McKinstry: Out of lineup Wednesday
Rotowire
McKinstry is not in the lineup for Wednesday's contest versus the White Sox.
McKinstry has gone 0-for-6 with five strikeouts in the first two games of the series and is slashing only .172/.243/.328 in the second half, so he'll get a day off to regroup. Colt Keith is at third base and batting leadoff for the Tigers.
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Tigers' Zach McKinstry: Idle against lefty
Rotowire
McKinstry is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Phillies.
The left-handed-hitting McKinstry will take a seat for the second time in the series while the Phillies send another southpaw (Cristopher Sanchez) to the hill. With McKinstry on the bench, Javier Baez will cover shortstop, and Matt Vierling will serve as the Tigers' starting center fielder.
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Tigers' Zach McKinstry: Swipes two bases in loss
Rotowire
McKinstry went 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI in Friday's 12-3 loss to the Mariners. He also stole two bases.
McKinstry kept his strong July rolling along, as he's now batting .323 with a 1.030 OPS across 10 games this month. He also stole two bases in a contest for the second time this season, with the other coming just three days prior. For the year, the utility player has now swiped 15 bases in 18 attempts, and he's paired that with a .287 batting average and .831 OPS through 86 games, giving McKinstry some unexpected fantasy value at this point in the season.
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Tigers' Zach McKinstry: Goes deep in win
Rotowire
McKinstry went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Monday's 5-1 win over the Rays.
McKinstry launched his seventh home run of the season in the seventh inning, which was one of three Detroit long balls on the night. The veteran utility player continued his strong recent play, as he's now batting .344 over his last 10 games with three home runs, four RBI and eight runs scored. Overall, McKinstry is sporting a .285 batting average and an .819 OPS, both of which are significantly above his career marks of .233 and .678, respectively.
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Tigers' Zach McKinstry: Could benefit sans Carpenter
Rotowire
McKinstry will start at third base and bat sixth in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader versus the Nationals.
Though the Tigers had shown more of a willingness to use Colt Keith at third base of late, McKinstry could end up seeing the bulk of the playing time at the position for the duration of Detroit's first-half schedule. With Kerry Carpenter (hamstring) landing on the injured list Wednesday and likely to be held out through the All-Star break, the Tigers will have openings for Keith at first base or designated hitter, with Spencer Torkelson likely starting at the other spot. McKinstry should thus have a clear path to steady playing time at third base in the short term, though the utility player had already been included in the Detroit lineup in five of the previous six contests. McKinstry's production had been tailing off in the second half of May, but he sported a hot bat throughout June, finishing the month with a .321/.353/.538 slash line to go with two home runs and seven stolen bases in 24 games.
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Tigers' Zach McKinstry: Losing work at hot corner
Rotowire
McKinstry is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rays, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.
For the second time in three games, McKinstry will hit the bench while the Tigers face a right-handed starting pitcher. With the team getting more comfortable using Colt Keith at third base, McKinstry's primary path to playing time appears to be closing. The 30-year-old is still capable of filling in at two other infield spots as well as both corner outfield spots, but his at-bats could become sporadic now that all of Detroit's key hitters are available, sans Matt Vierling (shoulder).
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Tigers' Zach McKinstry: Swipes bag in loss
Rotowire
McKinstry went 2-for-4 with a run scored in Thursday's 3-2, extra-inning loss to the White Sox. He also stole a base.
McKinstry continues to produce for the Tigers with hits in four of his last five games and a .271 average for the season. The utility man is also up to four stolen bases, and after recording 16 steals each of the last two years, he could start running more moving forward. McKinstry isn't the most exciting player, but his versatility and steady production is getting him into the lineup most days.
