Tigers fans outraged by All-Star snub for Tigers utilityman who just sparked incredible comeback

The Tigers are sending four players to the All-Star Game this season, the biggest crop since 2015 and the most fan-voted starters since 2009. Riley Greene and Tarik Skubal got their second nods, and Gleyber Torres and Javy Báez got their first since 2019; Greene and Báez will start in the outfield, Torres at second base, and Skubal is a no-brainer to start the game on the mound.

However, Skubal was unafraid to fight back against some of the reserve picks, stating, "To be honest, I'm a little disappointed with only the four guys we got. I think there's a lot more deserving guys on our team. We got the best record in the American League. I would like to think we'd be more represented there."

Dillon Dingler is a notable exclusion at catcher, although Cal Raleigh and Alejandro Kirk are both having fantastic seasons, as is Spencer Torkelson at first. Will Vest and Tommy Kahnle were even more noticeable misses for the pitching staff, though the lack of closer-type counting stats held them back.

But Tigers fans have gotten especially worked up by the exclusion of utilityman Zach McKinstry, whose name fans never thought would be mentioned in the same breath as the words "All-Star" at the beginning of the season.

Tigers fans up in arms about Zach McKinstry's exclusion from All-Star Game reserves

On Sunday, McKinstry was the key to unlocking the Tigers' win over the Guardians to complete a sweep. He came in as a pinch-runner for Torkelson after a hit-by-pitch, then stole second and moved to third on a ground out. He then sprinted home on a wild pitch from Emmanuel Clase to keep the game alive and give the Tigers more time to make sure they wouldn't waste a gem from Tarik Skubal.

The ball didn't even get that far away from Cleveland catcher Bo Naylor, but McKinstry was already just steps away from the plate before Naylor had even picked it up. The Tigers went on to score six more runs in the top of the 10th.

McKinstry's batting .285 with a .812 OPS on the season, and this has already been the best season of his career in just 82 games — by a long shot. He's batting .355 with a .881 OPS in high leverage, and he also made his first base debut on Sunday, giving him at least two career innings at every position except catcher.

There was tough competition for the AL's All-Star reserve spots, and McKinstry always seemed like a little bit of a long shot, but Tigers fans (and probably Tarik Skubal) would've loved to see him head to Atlanta for the first time in his career.