Riley Greene, Zach McKinstry bring home AL Silver Slugger awards for Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers’ offseason awards season continued Friday, Nov. 7, as left fielder Riley Greene and utility player Zach McKinstry were named Silver Slugger winners.
The duo are the Tigers’ first Silver Slugger winners since Miguel Cabrera at first base in 2016. The award is given annually to the best hitter at each position — with three awarded in the outfield — as voted on by MLB managers and coaches. Greene is the first Tigers outfielder to win this award since JD Martinez won it in back-to-back years in 2014 and 2015. Greene was also a finalist in 2024.
Catcher Dillon Dingler was rewarded for his defense by MLB managers and coaches Sunday with his first Gold Glove.
Greene, 25, hit .258 with 36 home runs, 111 RBIs, 46 walks and 201 strikeouts in 157 games, recording an .806 OPS.
He is joined as a Silver Slugger winner in the outfield by Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees (in his fifth victory) and Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins (in his first victory). Meanwhile, Cody Bellinger of the Yankees, Julio Rodríguez of the Seattle Mariners and George Springer of the Toronto Blue Jays were finalists.
Among the six finalists, Greene ranks second in games played (157), second in home runs (36) and second in RBIs (111), but he also ranks sixth in batting average (.258), fifth in OPS (.806), fifth in walk rate (7%), sixth in strikeout rate (30.7%) and sixth in wRC+ (121).
McKinstry is the first Tiger to win a Silver Slugger as a utility player, with that category being added in 2022. He beat out Maikel Garcia of the Kansas City Royals and Ben Rice of the Yankees.
McKinstry, 30, hit .259 with 12 home runs, 49 RBIs, 46 walks and 111 strikeouts in 144 games, posting an OPS of .771.
Among the three utility finalists, McKinstry ranks second in games played (142), third in home runs (12), third in RBIs (49), second in batting average (.259), third in OPS (.771), third in walk rate (9%), third in strikeout rate (21.7%) and third in wRC+ (114).
Greene and McKinstry both represented the Tigers as All-Stars in July, with Greene earning a starting spot through fan voting.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Riley Greene, Zach McKinstry win AL Silver Slugger awards for Detroit Tigers
