Walking man: McKinstry patiently waiting on some strikes to fully test new swing

>> So, you spend your whole offseason refashioning your swing and then February rolls around and you are champing at the bit to test it out against live pitching and then you get into the spring games and pitchers stop throwing you strikes.

What’s up with that? That’s what Zach McKinstry would like to know.

“How many four-pitch walks do I have,” McKinstry said before the game Saturday. “At least three, maybe five.”

McKinstry leads the Grapefruit League with nine walks. He came into the game Saturday against the Pirates hitting .455 with a .667 on-base percentage and an .818 slugging percentage. So, it seems like the swing change is working, but with the walks, he’s only put 11 balls in play with five hits.

“It’s just that intimidating presence,” joked pitcher Mason Englert from a couple of lockers over.

“Yeah,” McKinstry laughed. “Big, old 6-0, 190-pound Zach McKinstry gets in there and it’s ‘Oh boy, I don’t know.’”

The walks are partly a function of bad spring training pitching, for sure. But they also an indication that McKinstry has been locked in and confident at the plate.

“The pitches that are in the zone, I’m taking good swings at,” he said. “One of my biggest assets is just getting on base and passing the baton to the next guy. Just keeping the lineup moving.”

McKinstry, who started in left field Saturday, is going to be the Tigers’ lefthanded hitting utility man opposite right-handed hitting Andy Ibanez. Both are enjoying productive springs. Ibanez has four homers.

“(The walks) are a good sign,” manager AJ Hinch said of McKinstry. “Part of hitting is the confidence to take balls and to take strikes that you think you’re not going to hit well. It’s just an overall presence in the box. But they’re going to throw him more strikes as we go.”

McKinstry certainly hopes so.

“Coming off the offseason, I got a lot of early atbats against lefties,” McKinstry said. “I was seeing the ball really well in the live (batting practice) atbats. I was hoping it was going to translate. I feel like it’s going well.”