Tigers' Riley Greene and Zack McKinstry take home illustrious Silver Slugger award

TJ French

Tigers'  Riley Greene and Zack McKinstry take home illustrious Silver Slugger award image

On Friday, the Silver Slugger award winners were announced for the American League. The illustrious award is given to the best hitter at their respective position in both the National League and the AL.

The Detroit Tigers had a few award finalists, but Riley Greene was announced as one of two recipients for Detroit. Zack McKinstry was also given a SS award for the utility/DH position in the AL. 

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Riley Greene and Zack McKinstry take home Silver Sluggers for Tigers

2025 was Riley Greene's fourth season in MLB, and he brought home his first Silver Slugger. He is a two-time All-Star and has 76 home runs and an OPS+ of 118 over the course of his career.

In 2025, Greene had a real breakout season. He smashed 36 home runs in 157 games, and hit 12 more homers than he did in 2024.

This is also Greene's third straight season of posting an OPS+ higher than 115. He strikes out a lot, there's no denying that, but his offensive presence is worth a couple extra strikeouts. He drove in 111 runs this season as well. 

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It was also McKinstry's first Silver Slugger award after seven seasons in MLB. He also had a true breakout campaign. McKinstry saw career highs in home runs, average, OPS+, RBIs, and Runs. 

His bWAR was 2.8, and McKinstry was also named to the All-Star team for the first time. Both Tigers were well deserving of receiving the award, and it will be interesting to see how both players perform in 2026 as the focal points of the Tigers lineup. 

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News Correspondent