Heading into the 2021 season the Los Angeles Dodgers had high hopes for Zach McKinstry, but he was never able to consistently find success with the club.
The left-handed-hitting utility man was selected in the 33rd round of the 2016 Draft and made his MLB debut with the Dodgers while appearing in four games during the 2020 season.
McKinstry made the 2021 roster out of Spring Training, earning a spot on the bench that included multiple other left-handed hitters in Matt Beaty, Edwin Rios and Gavin Lux. He was expected to fill the utility role left by Kiké Hernandez when he joined the Boston Red Sox.
“You look at our roster, a potential right-handed bench bat on paper might fit a little bit better,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said at the time. “But I just think Zach’s versatility, his ability to take a good at-bat off the bench, on the bases, and throughout his career handled left-handed pitching. Just love him on the team.”
The 26-year-old got off to a hot start in the first month of the season, hitting .296/.328/.556 with a 133 wRC+ in 17 games before he was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain near the end of April that cost him more than one month of the season.
McKinstry was activated on May 29 and went 0-for-10 in the month before having a solid but unspectacular June where he hit .265/.327/.429 with a 105 wRC+ in 17 games.
Near the end of the month, McKinstry corrected an eye issue at the plate where he was closing his eyes on contact with the pitch.
“When I was doing rehab stuff and when I try to feel certain things on my body, I like to close my eyes so I can feel it more. So I was closing my eyes on contact and we kind of saw that in San Diego,” he explained.
“Started working on it, making sure my eyes were open, and it helped. I started seeing the ball a little bit longer out of the pitcher’s hand. It’s been good. I’ve been hitting the ball hard ever since and having good at-bats.”
McKinstry revealed his eye problem started when he was a child. “I had that same problem when I was younger; my dad and I kind of laughed about it,” McKinstry said. “I mean, you need your eyes to hit, so definitely a priority.”
McKinstry noted he corrected his eye issue by blinking more often in between pitches. “Just keeping your eyes wider and making sure I’m blinking before the guy is throwing,” he said.
“It wasn’t really that hard of a fix. I went into the cage, took maybe 20 swings and it was fixed. It’s just something you have to stay conscious about and keep working on.”
However, McKinstry’s biggest struggles came in the next month as he hit just .111/.149/.289 in 48 July plate appearances and he was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Aug. 1. He was recalled for one day in the middle of August but did not receive an at-bat.
McKinstry was also recalled on Sept. 1 when rosters expand but only received one at-bat before being sent back to Triple-A one week later, where he remained for the rest of the regular season.
The Dodgers added McKinstry to their roster for the National League Wild Card Game against the St. Louis Cardinals but he did not get into the matchup and was removed for the NL Division Series against the San Francisco Giants in favor of extra pitching.
McKinstry’s 2021 highlight
Playing in front of a national audience on June 27, McKinstry led the Dodgers to a 7-1 win against the Chicago Cubs with a second-inning grand slam.
It was the first grand slam of his career and he finished the day 2-for-4. McKinstry went 4-for-11 with two home runs and five RBI in three games against the Cubs, raising his slugging percentage by nearly 50 points in the process.
2022 outlook
McKinstry should get another look to claim a role on the Dodgers’ bench for the 2022 season as he showed flashes of talent this year.
However, with Lux increasing his versatility, McKinstry is no longer the only left-handed-hitting utility player on the roster, which could push him into a depth role.
The Dodgers will also likely look to upgrade their bench once the MLB lockout ends as it was a weak point for the team this past season, so McKinstry has a lot of work to do to prove he deserves a spot on the roster.
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