Tigers' Zach McKinstry's improbable season reaches peak with ALDS heroics

Billy Heyen

Tigers' Zach McKinstry's improbable season reaches peak with ALDS heroics image

Zach McKinstry has put together the season of a lifetime.

And on Saturday night in Seattle, the Detroit Tigers' super-utility guy delivered the highlight of his magical campaign.

In the top of the 11th inning, McKinstry hit it hard back up the middle to drive home the go-ahead run from second base to give his Tigers a 3-2 lead.

Very few people in baseball would've believed in the past that McKinstry would be delivering in this moment.

But this season, McKinstry was better than ever before.

He batted a career-high .259 with a career-high .771 OPS.

He had career bests in doubles (23), triples (11), homers (12), RBI (49) and steals (19).

McKinstry is 30 years old. It's not normally the time a player breaks out.

He already had outdone his one-time draft position. He was a 33rd-round pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016.

Just making the majors at all as a 33rd-round pick is improbable as can be.

But now McKinstry is an All-Star and a hero for the Tigers.

It doesn't get much cooler than that.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle