As a member of Team USA, Hinch won a bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics before playing in MLB for the Oakland Athletics (1998–2000), Kansas City Royals (2001–2002), Detroit Tigers (2003), and Philadelphia Phillies (2004).

Born in Iowa, Hinch attended Midwest City High School in Oklahoma, and then Stanford University, where he played college baseball for the Cardinal.

Following his playing career, Hinch managed the Arizona Diamondbacks from May 2009 to July 2010, and became vice president of professional scouting for the San Diego Padres from September 2010 to August 2014.

Hinch joined the Houston Astros as manager from 2015 through 2019, guiding the club through one of the most successful periods in franchise history.

They won the 2017 World Series, two American League (AL) pennants, and over 100 regular season games each from 2017 to 2019, including a club-record 107 in the latter.

Hinch won a bronze medal for the United States at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and was named to the 1998 Topps All-Star Rookie Team.

[5] Overall, Hinch compiled an 89–123 record in 212 games;[5] his .420 winning percentage ranks as the lowest for a non-interim manager in Diamondbacks history.

Morton tossed five innings, and Hinch brought in McCullers to pitch the final four in relief as the Astros shutout the Yankees, 4–0.

With the win, Hinch earned his 14th playoff victory as manager of the Astros, establishing a club record that eclipsed the 13 attained by Phil Garner.

[16] On January 13, 2020, during the offseason, Hinch and Jeff Luhnow, the team's general manager, were suspended one year for violating MLB policies in a sign stealing scandal in 2017.

[18] The year-long suspension was the second-most severe punishment in baseball history meted out to a manager for in-game misconduct.

The only longer suspension was for St. Louis Browns manager Jack O'Connor, who was banned for life for trying to throw the 1910 American League batting title to Nap Lajoie by bribing the official scorer to change a hit on error to a hit in the final game of the season.

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora was also handed a year-long suspension for his role in the scandal, but was sanctioned for his actions as the Astros' bench coach.

[22][23] In 2024, Hinch led the Tigers to a wild card berth on an 84–78 third-place finish in the AL Central division.

Left-hander Tarik Skubal emerged as the staff ace, winning the AL Triple Crown, the first Tiger do to so since Verlander in 2011.

[24][25] A 55–63 record shortly after the trade deadline did not advertise a playoff destiny after having dealt starter Jack Flaherty, outfielder Mark Canha, reliever Andrew Chafin, and catcher Carson Kelly.

As such, Hinch became the third manager in MLB history to face his former team whom he led to a World Series title in a postseason tournament.