Tigers utility man puts final point on breakthrough season with Silver Slugger nom

Despite the dud the Tigers' season ended on, we shouldn't forget their incredible first half, when they were the first team to 30, 40, 50, and finally 60 wins right after the All-Star break.

Six Detroit players were awarded for their efforts with All-Star recognition, making them the fourth Tigers team to have that many representatives: Riley Greene, Gleyber Torres, and Javy Báez were the fan-voted starters; Tarik Skubal was the easy choice to start the game for the American League; Casey Mize was added as a replacement when Garrett Crochet declined to participate; and Zach McKinstry, the utility man whose release Tigers fans had been calling for basically ever since he got to Detroit, as a replacement for Jeremy Peña.

In a turn of events no one saw coming, Tigers fans were actually pushing for McKinstry to get that nod. He'd become an integral part of Detroit's lineup and hit .285 with a .836 OPS in the first half.

He has the chance to bookend his incredible breakthrough season with some hardware. McKinstry is a finalist for a 2025 Silver Slugger in the AL utility category alongside the Royals' Maikel Garcia and Yankees' Ben Rice.

Greene, to no one's surprise after putting up a 36 homer, 111 RBI season, is also nominated in the outfield category along with Cody Bellinger, Byron Buxton, Aaron Judge, Julio Rodriguez, and George Springer.

Zach McKinstry, Riley Greene represent Tigers among 2025 Silver Slugger finalists

McKinstry, like pretty much every other Tigers hitter, slowed down significantly in the second half, hitting .213 with a .656 OPS, but he still walked away from the season having contributed more than anyone ever thought he would and became the anchor of the bottom third of the Tigers' lineup. He was also one of their best hitters in high leverage, with a .313 average and .818 OPS.

The Tigers' front office and management has always been far more enamored with McKinstry than fans. Last offseason, GM Jeff Greenberg called him the team's "most indispensable under-the-radar player." McKinstry has always been versatile on defense in the way the Tigers love, sure, but apart from that, it was really hard for fans to see the vision.

We're seeing it now, though. McKinstry has very tough competition in Garcia and Rice, but the nomination itself is a more than pleasant surprise for a guy that Tigers fans have come all the way back around to rooting for.

American League winners will be announced on FanSided.com and The Baseball Insiders on Nov. 7 at 6:00 PM EST.