Tigers fans shouldn't take frustrations over AJ Hinch's excuses out on Zach McKinstry

Scott Harris has deservingly borne the brunt of the criticism for the Tigers' slow offseason, but AJ Hinch put himself directly in the line of fire on Tuesday.

In an interview on 97.1 The Ticket, the Tigers skipper said, "I get asked about third base all the time. I'm like, 'Our guy (Zach McKinstry) made the All-Star team.' Our players don't get enough credit when you always look over the other side and start wondering if you should go out and get other guys."

That ... was definitely the wrong thing to say.

Tigers fans have gone back to Harris and Hinch's press conference following their ALDS exit a lot. Harris identified and acknowledged what went wrong for the Tigers in the back half of their season, and Hinch himself vowed that the lineup wouldn't look the same in 2026. It set fans up to be excited for the offseason. Over two months in, "excited" is not a word that any of us would use to describe what the Tigers have done.

Unsurprisingly, attention has shifted to McKinstry and his poor numbers after the All-Star break, but we shouldn't be blaming McKinstry for the front office's failings.

Zach McKinstry in the line of fire after AJ Hinch made a limp excuse for Tigers' slow offseason

The Tigers have always overhyped McKinstry to a point where fans started to resent him, because he never lived up to their internal excitement for him with his performance on the field. In fairness, we were all forced to eat our words and pull for him to make the All-Star team after hitting .285 with a .836 OPS before the break. He won a Silver Slugger. His second-half drop wasn't unique — it plagued the entire offense and sent the Tigers on a downward spiral that cost them the AL Central — and everyone's pulling for him to get off to a hot start in 2026.

But let's offer Hinch a different perspective. Are fans not giving players enough credit, or are the Tigers' brass trying to make too much out of too little to cover for an allergy to spending? We can acknowledge that McKinstry's turnaround was nice, and he might be a more viable bench utility guy than anyone was giving him credit for, but it won't make us forget his two previous seasons of subpar hitting, bad second half in 2025, and the front office using him as the worst possible shield to protect themselves from criticism.

It's not McKinstry's fault. There's very little reason for us to believe that he has a higher ceiling, and we'd be far more accepting of his place on the roster if the Tigers would stop making promises he won't be able to fulfill. The higher-ups are either in denial or are looking for any way to deflect justified anger and turn it back onto the fans.

It's not wrong of us to ask for more or to refuse to sunnyside a flawed roster; it's on the front office to come to reality and acknowledge that 'good' is still not 'great.' It's not enough to get the Tigers to the World Series. It was hardly enough to get them into the postseason last year.