Dingler's power surge coming at perfect time

This story was excerpted from Jason Beck's Tigers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

DETROIT -- Dillon Dingler has been knocking on Detroit’s door for most of the summer. With each big swing this week from the Tigers’ top catching prospect, that knock is becoming a pounding, much like he has put on Triple-A pitching.

It’s not just that Dingler homered four times in his three games since Sunday, but it's how he hit them.

His two-run drive Sunday against St. Paul off a cutter from Twins No. 19 prospect Zebby Matthews nearly reached the street beyond left-center field. Two nights later, Detroit's No. 11 prospect went with a fastball off the outside corner and sent it to the opposite-field corner, then caught a slider and pulled it out to left. The exclamation point came Wednesday, when he sent a fastball 429 feet to straightaway center field, just to the right of Fifth Third Field’s batter's eye.

Dingler barely missed another homer Wednesday, crushing a curveball 401 feet off the wall in left-center field for an RBI double. He finished with back-to-back three-hit games, five RBIs, five runs scored, three walks and one strikeout.

The combined damage lifted Dingler’s batting average to .306, third highest among qualified International League hitters. He raised his OPS 75 points over three games to .924, seventh best in the IL entering Friday.

This is the type of offensive impact the Tigers hoped Dingler was capable of producing when Detroit drafted him in the second round in 2020, one round after taking Spencer Torkelson. After a long road up the Tigers' system that has included injuries, swing tweaks and stellar defense, Dingler is breaking out at the right time.

“I started swinging it well about two months back,” Dingler said a few weeks ago, “And it’s honestly just given me a lot of confidence in the box and I’ve kind of just been going with it. I’m swinging at the right pitches and getting pitches that I want to hit. Obviously there’s still room for improvement, but I’m liking some of the swings I’ve been putting on balls.”

If it was simply a swing change, it would be an easy narrative for a long-awaited breakout. But a big part of it, Dingler said, has been pitch recognition. He’s seeing pitches early enough to make smart decisions and put his game plan into action. After injuries shortened his first three full pro seasons, his health has allowed him the repetition to get regular at-bats and see a daily dose of pitches.

The other part is mental. He has tried to keep an even temperament during the ebbs and flows of the season and avoid panicking when he hits a rough stretch.

“You can fall into a deep hole when you start searching for things,” Dingler said, “So you just try to have an even-keel mindset every day. If you don’t swing well for that day, make sure you take the positive and you don’t try to dig too deep into it. I mean, it’s very hard. I still have done that a little bit. Obviously it’s easier saying that when [you] put a couple good barrels on balls and then you go in with a free mind and a lot of confidence and then you’re able to do it.”

It was easy to panic at times. Dingler was part of the same prospect group as Riley Greene, Torkelson and Ryan Kreidler, all teammates at Double-A Erie in 2021. While they rose to Toledo and then Detroit, Dingler had a slower path, partly through injuries and partly through the intricacies of learning to catch while also finding himself as a hitter. He reached Triple-A late last season after 208 games at Double-A Erie.

“You learn something new every year about yourself, offensively, defensively, as a person, as a player,” Dingler said. “I’ve kind of finally figured out what ... I do well, and I’m starting to put the bat on the ball in places that I do well. Honestly, I’m just not trying to think about it too much, just trying to go out there and play and have fun.”

Now, Dingler’s time is coming. Next week’s Trade Deadline could provide a logical ramp, with Carson Kelly among the many Tigers veterans nearing free agency who are available for contenders as rentals. If Kelly is traded, Dingler would be a logical callup.

Dingler still has finishing touches to make. While he has crushed sliders and curveballs, he’s batting .250 off four-seam fastballs according to Statcast, including .154 off four-seamers at 95 mph or harder despite a relatively low whiff rate. But his work to improve his offense to match up with standout defense have shown his ability to recognize and adjust.