It has become his mantra, coined by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts:

“Zach McKinstry is a baseball player.”

Indeed he is.

Through the Dodgers first nine games, the soon-to-be (on April 29) 26-year-old Toledo, OH native and Dodgers 33rd-round draft pick in 2016 out of Central Michigan University is 7-for–25 (.280) with three doubles, one home run, and seven RBI in the eight games in which he has appeared in this season. He has also made several highlight-reel defensive plays wherever Roberts plays him.

During Saturday night’s 9-5 win over the Washington Nationals at an orange tier sold-out Dodger Stadium, McKinstry went 1-for-3 with a game-changing two-RBI single in the bottom of the second inning to turn a (then) 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 Dodgers lead. He would eventually come around to score on a three-run home run by Dodgers super-utility (playing center field on this night) Chris Taylor. When the inning ended, the score was 5-1.

Even before his crucial second-inning two-run single, McKinstry made one of those aforementioned highlight-reel defensive plays when he nailed Nationals All-Star first baseman Ryan Zimmerman at third base trying to advance from second on a single to McKinstry in right field. McKinstry threw an absolute dart to Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner, who easily tagged out a very surprised Ryan Zimmerman.

“He’s been great. I think the biggest thing, he’s having fun out there,” Taylor said of McKinstry after the Dodgers 9-5 win over the Nationals. “He’s playing with energy, he’s making big plays in the outfield – he hasn’t played much outfield before – so he’s been outstanding out there, and then just putting good at-bats together. We saw a lot of that last year in summer camp, I thought he was one of our best hitters in summer camp last year. Unfortunately, he didn’t really get his opportunity because there wasn’t many open spaces. This year, he’s really showing … I think he’s been ready for quite some time and he’s doing a heck of a job.”

That’s some pretty high praise coming from a guy who himself has been doing “a heck of a job.“

But Wait … There’s More! 

“He’s a great player … he puts great at-bats together,” Taylor added. “I think we’re just seeing the beginning. I think he’s going to have an outstanding year for us this year. I don’t think this is just a hot streak or anything for him; he’s just playing up to all of our expectations.”

If this is ‘just the beginning’ for McKinstry, I can’t wait for his next game, and the next, and the next…

Play Ball!

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