DETROIT >> Manager AJ Hinch came to the podium on Monday ready to stump for the slew of Tigers who could join Javier Báez, Riley Greene, Gleyber Torres and Tarik Skubal at the All-Star Game in Atlanta next week.

After Báez, Greene and Torres earned their spot via fan vote and Skubal was an expected addition as a pitcher at the top of the league, the league-leading Tigers didn’t land any other players as reserves. Hinch is hopeful that will change in the coming days.

“If we can add more guys, we will have close to the most represented in baseball,” Hinch said. “That would be very indicative of the type of season that our team has had. So we’ll celebrate both individually and also as a team.”

Third baseman and utility man Zach McKinstry is likely at the top of most lists as an injury replacement, but Hinch alluded to several other Tigers who, in his estimation, are deserving of a spot on the bench.

But no matter who ends up going to Atlanta, Hinch knows this is a time to celebrate not just the individual achievements, but the collective effort to have a season with four, and possibly more, players making the All-Star Game.

“If Z-Mac gets added, if Tork (Spencer Torkelson) gets added, if Ding (Dillon Dingler) can get there, Will (Vest), Tommy (Kahnle), I mean these guys, we have a number of guys if they’re looking for additions and I would welcome that experience for any and all,” Hinch said.

Before anyone departs for the Midsummer Classic, the Tigers have business at home: Three games against Tampa Bay before a day off and three games against Seattle.

While getting home for a week before the four-day All-Star break will certainly aid Detroit’s efforts to rest and reset past the halfway point of the season, it will do so playing host to two of its top competitors in the American League.

“We need to finish strong and try to win a couple more series before we get to that break that everybody sort of looks forward to,” Hinch said.

Regardless, the homestand does mean that Detroit’s coaches, support staff and the bulk of the roster will have 11 consecutive days in Michigan, with games on just six of them, giving plenty of time for most in the organization to take a needed reprieve from baseball.“It’s great to be in Michigan this time of year, too,” Hinch said. “Finishing at home does make it easy on everybody in this clubhouse to make plans to get out of here for a few days.”

Even if the chance to spend four days relaxing on a lake shore is the aforementioned consolation prize, Hinch noted the Tigers who could still head to Atlanta would rather get that distinction than a vacation.

As for the four Tigers he knows are going, Hinch is not the least bit worried about the toll that time and playing will take on them. He thinks it’s far outweighed by the benefits anyways.

“Or you can get the distinction of being one of the best players in the league and getting to play in a fun game at the All-Star Game,” Hinch said. “I’ve never had someone come back from the All-Star Game and say, ‘Man, I wish I had taken that time off.’”

All-Star bat boy?

Hinch took a minute to give Frankie Boyd, a Tigers bat boy and Eastern Michigan student, some love as Boyd is up for a fan vote as one of four potential bat boys to go to the All-Star Game.

The claim for Boyd is that he’s the fastest bat boy in the league, a metric that seems to have not been officially tested. But Hinch made sure to give one of the unsung cogs in the clubhouse some shine.

“Frankie’s been great,” Hinch said. “Frankie’s been here since the day that I’ve been here in different roles and he’s gonna get a little bit of love this week.”

Plus, no matter how it works out, it’ll all lead to some clubhouse ribbing.

“It’s high risk, high reward for Frankie because if he finishes low on the list of votes, that’s a lot of ammo for a major league clubhouse to have against a defenseless guy,” Hinch said, wryly. “If he finishes high, we’ll watch his behavior post-All-Star break to make sure his head doesn’t swell too big, that the world invited him to the All-Star Game.”

No overlooking in-house additions

There’s one area Hinch thinks the Tigers could improve without a signing or trade: Getting healthy.

“There’s a lot of guys that have yet to be fully healthy that I think would enhance this team,” he said. “Obviously this month I’ll get asked a ton of questions about it. Our primary focus in this clubhouse is gonna be about the guys who are here, and the guys who are in Toledo.”

While some injuries have cost the Tigers a few players for the remainder of 2025 — Jackson Jobe and Sean Guenther, namely — they have dealt with a slew of minor inflictions and hiccups along the way.

Starting with a barrage of center field injuries in spring training to Kerry Carpenter tweaking his hamstring in late June, the Tigers have yet to play with a fully-loaded deck, health-wise. And with several players still rehabbing and set to potentially come back later this year, Hinch is bullish on what it can do for his roster.

After the All-Star break, Carpenter should be back as Hinch originally described the injury as “mild.” The center fielders who were hurt to start the year are now healthy, as Matt Vierling, Parker Meadows and Wenceel Pérez are all playing.

Starting pitcher Reese Olson recently made his first start back after more than a month off with right ring finger inflammation, and looked sharp. More help could be coming for the bullpen and rotation as Sawyer Gipson-Long is close to returning from a neck strain, and Alex Lange and Jose Urquidy — who Hinch managed with the Houston Astros in 2019 — could be in play for Detroit as the summer rolls along. Urquidy was in the Tigers’ clubhouse on Monday ahead of the homestand.

“I love Jose and what he could potentially bring,” Hinch said. “It’s a good boost for him to be able to come up and just get a change of scenery for him during this rehab process to get back on the mound.”