This Gold Glove finalist has emerged as one of MLB's best two-way catchers

DETROIT -- Dillon Dingler has a solid chance to join Ivan Rodriguez, Lance Parrish and Bill Freehan as Tigers catchers to win consecutive Gold Glove Awards. He had a case to be in the American League MVP conversation late in the summer, entering August behind only Yordan Alvarez among AL players in Wins Above Replacement, according to FanGraphs. He still could just be scratching the surface of his potential as an all-around impact player. He might already be the face of the Tigers.

And as the Tigers review their roster this offseason to look for ways to take the next step, Dingler -- one of three AL Gold Glove finalists at catcher announced on Wednesday -- is one of the biggest strengths on the club, and puts Detroit in its best position catching-wise arguably since Rodriguez’s Tiger tenure 20 years ago.

“We’re going to get a lot of development topics that we need to do better, but Dillon Dingler has been identified by so many people as one of, if not the best catcher in baseball,” manager A.J. Hinch said in his end-of-season remarks a few weeks ago. “That does not come with perfect performance every day, but it comes with as close to perfect preparation nightly.”

Behind the plate, Dingler was a force all season, starting with his plus-17 Fielding Run Value that well outpaced the rest of MLB. He led the Majors in Catcher Framing Runs at plus-9, according to Statcast. His three Catcher Blocking Runs tied for second, and his 11 Blocks Above Average tied for fourth. He tied for fifth in Caught Stealing Above Average, helped by an average pop time to second base of 1.86 seconds that ranked fourth fastest in the Majors and outstanding arm strength. He was well above average in ABS challenges despite a few misses costing him in metrics down the stretch.

For a Tigers rotation that underwent wholesale changes from Opening Day to the end, Dingler was a constant.

“There’s a whole subset of his game that is really valuable, but not necessarily measurable,” president of baseball operations Scott Harris said, “like his impact on our pitching staff, his impact on game-calling, his preparation going into every game, the effect that he has on pitchers in really tough times to get them out of a game.”

In the batter’s box, Dingler carried the Tigers’ lineup for large stretches of the summer. His eight homers, 25 RBIs and 1.011 OPS in June helped lift Detroit’s offense out of its miserable May, and put the club on the road to recovery. Dingler scored or drove in 39 of the Tigers’ 137 runs in June. He joined Hank Greenberg and Rocky Colavito as the only players in franchise history to post 19 homers, 18 doubles, two triples and 59 RBIs through his first 80 games of a season.

That production put the Tigers in a bind as the wear and tear piled up: Rest one of their most productive all-around players in a must-win stretch, or hope that he finds a second wind?

“He was performing at such a high level that anything was going to be deemed a step back,” Hinch said. “He’s still a great player, even in the month that he struggles. His emergence as a leader on this team, both on the field and his presence behind the plate, is a massive step forward.”

Only Yankees catcher and fellow Gold Glove finalist Austin Wells caught more games (122) among American Leaguers than Dingler (116), who started more games and caught more complete games.

“I think the rigors of the season are hard,” Hinch said. “He is a swing-first, high-end contact [hitter]. And when we do that and have success, he’s the clutch hitter who gets a bunch of hits. When he gets out, we saw that emerge a little bit in a rough patch. I continued to play him because I trust him to come out of it, and he’s going to be able to learn on maybe audibling the swing or changing a little bit of his prep routine. Or maybe it’s just going to be mentally how he balances offense and defense.

“But I’m not disappointed in the least bit that he had to go through the tough time. I felt for him. I was not going to let off the gas pedal because we needed him and his presence in the lineup, and he didn’t complain a bit.”

Staying more productive for longer will undoubtedly be a point of emphasis for Dingler in his offseason workouts. Having an offensively imposing backup in slugger Eduardo Valencia will surely help balance the workload. But the body of work Dingler posted is award-worthy.