Zach McKinstry admits World Series revenge on former team would be sweet

They may have opened their season with three straight losses to the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the Detroit Tigers appear to be having the last laugh.

Now the owners of the best record in baseball (59-38) at the All-Star break, the Tigers look poised to give the reigning World Series champions a run for their money. Detroit sent a league-leading six players to this week's MLB All-Star Game in Atlanta, including four starters, while the Dodgers sent five.

The Dodgers and Tigers were actually tied with five All-Stars apiece until Tigers utility man Zach McKinstry – who just so happens to be a former top Dodgers prospect –  was named to the American League All-Star roster as a replacement for injured Houston Astros infielder Jeremy Peña. McKinstry has been a machine this year, slashing .286/.358/.468 with seven home runs and 28 RBI in what has easily been the best offensive season of his career.

McKinstry is a big part of the reason that the Tigers are MLB's best team this season with 59 wins – one more than the second-best Dodgers. Speaking with FanSided's Adam Weinrib at All-Star media day in Atlanta earlier this week, McKinstry reflected on Detroit's poor start to the season against the Dodgers and how it would make a potential World Series matchup between the two teams even sweeter.

"Definitely, that'd be awesome," McKinstry said. "Unfortunately, we weren't able to get them earlier this year. So, just continue to look forward to that and just do what we can to get there."

Zach McKinstry admits Dodgers World Series revenge would be sweet after early-season matchup

While the rest of his Tigers teammates would love to get revenge on the Dodgers for their season-opening sweep, McKinstry has even more motivation to take down the reigning World Series champs this year.

A 33rd-round pick by the Dodgers in the 2016 MLB Draft, McKinstry ranked as high as No. 15 on Los Angeles' top prospects list in 2021. He has generally failed to impress at the Major League level, however, posting a career batting average of .233 and OPS of .681 over parts of six seasons – until this season, that is.

The Tigers stumbled into the All-Star break on a four-game losing streak, so they will look to recapture some momentum as they kick off the second half of their schedule this weekend against the Texas Rangers. If they can, there's a decent chance that McKinstry could face off against his former team again in October.

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