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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 number of ailments, 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: 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: Will undergo further testing on hip
Rotowire
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
Rotowire
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: 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.
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.
