Opening the season in Coors Field, where gravity abides by the laws of the Hollow Earth, the Dodgers were bound to be involved in some strange events. Saturday evening, fans saw rookie infielder Zach McKinstry contribute to the plethora of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! moments from this past weekend. 

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What a bizarre, electric 30-second clip. McKinstry, at bat in the highest-leverage situation of his young career, rockets a ball into left field. Raimel Tapia reaches up and his right arm turns into a pool noodle as he tries to rob him of the homer, then hits the ground, the ball lying on the warning track several feet away. Tapia collides with the wall so hard, he has no idea what state he’s in. By the time when he figures out what’s going on, McKinstry is rounding third heading for home.

Biggest loser of this situation? Kershaw, when the camera caught him attempting to scratch his brain like Clark in the Benchwarmers.

For many Dodger fans, last night was the first time they really paid attention to Zach McKinstry. He’s shaping up to replace Kiké Hernandez (and possibly Chris Taylor in the future). McKinstry is someone whose best ability is availability. He can play at almost any position on the field. 

McKinstry was selected in the 33rd round of the legendary 2016 draft that included Gavin Lux, Will Smith, and Dustin May. It’s truly crazy to see him playing in the middle infield with Lux today; they were drafted 32 rounds apart. 

Off to a solid start this season, McKinstry is 3-for-7 with three extra base hits and an OPS of 1.571. One can only hope that he provides offensively what Matt Beaty wasn’t able to last year. Beaty was lackluster in 2020, posting a .220 BA with two home runs, two walks, and 14 strikeouts in 21 games during the regular season. 

Right now, though it’s early, it seems McKinstry could be someone who eats up innings throughout the year to give starters a rest. Roberts has shown in this opening series that he’s going to give guys like Mookie Betts, Justin Turner, Corey Seager, and Cody Bellinger rest days throughout the season.

McKinstry is in a great situation as a rookie because he isn’t under the same kind of pressure as Gavin Lux (but still knows that one big slump could send him back to the minors). It’s way too early to say McKinstry will be the next Mike Piazza of draft steals, but he’s full of promise. And who knows? Maybe he has a couple more inside-the-park home runs hidden in his sleeve.