Two players from the Detroit Tigers have been honored for their performance on offense throughout the 2025 season, but one name is more surprising than the other.
Riley Greene and Zach McKinstry were named finalists for the American League Silver Slugger, announced Thursday, Oct. 23, by Louisville Slugger. Greene is one of six finalists among outfielders; McKinstry is one of three finalists among utility players.
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The winner will be announced at 6 p.m. Nov. 7 on The Baseball Insiders stream on YouTube. The Tigers haven’t had a Silver Slugger winner since Miguel Cabrera at first base in 2016.
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The finalists and winners are determined by votes from AL managers and coaches. Each of the 15 AL teams are allotted four ballots: one manager and three coaches.
Three of the six finalists in the outfield will become Silver Slugger winners, but only one of the three finalists at utility player wins the award.
Greene, 25, hit .258 with 36 home runs, 111 RBIs, 46 walks and 201 strikeouts across 157 games, registering an .806 OPS. McKinstry, 30, hit .259 with 12 home runs, 49 RBIs, 46 walks and 111 strikeouts across 144 games, posting a .771 OPS.
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Both players made the All-Star Game in 2025.
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The competition for Greene in the outfield: Cody Bellinger (New York Yankees), Byron Buxton (Minnesota Twins), Aaron Judge (Yankees), Julio Rodríguez (Seattle Mariners) and George Springer (Toronto Blue Jays).
The competition for McKinstry at utility player: Maikel Garcia (Kansas City Royals) and Ben Rice (Yankees).
Among the six outfielders, Greene ranks second in games (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).
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The stats project Judge and Springer as the favorites for two of the three winners, with Buxton and Rodríguez battling to be the third and final winner.
Among the three utility players, McKinstry ranks second in games (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).
The stats project Rice or Garcia as the one winner.
Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers’ Riley Greene, Zach McKinstry: Silver Slugger finalists
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