DETROIT -- Dillon Dingler’s ridiculous June continued Saturday with his sixth home run of the month and 17th of the season. But if you want a snapshot of why he has become so valuable to the Tigers, and why he deserves more All-Star votes at catcher, the fifth-inning single that preceded his homer is better.
Dingler has been crushing the ball all month, but he has been producing clutch hits all season. His 32 two-out RBIs lead the Majors, and are tied for the most by a Tiger in his first 70 games of a season in the last 50 years with Richie Hebner in 1980.
The latest two-out RBI from Dingler not only tied the game, setting up James Outman’s go-ahead RBI single an inning later in Saturday’s 4-1 win over the White Sox, it changed the momentum of a game that seemed to be getting away from them.
The boos were echoing around Comerica Park after the Tigers left the bases loaded in the fourth inning, capped by Jahmai Jones’ pinch-hit strikeout against lefty reliever Joe Rock. Fans were frustrated. Zach McKinstry’s two-out walk and Kevin McGonigle’s single put runners on the corners to give them another chance. Dingler, as he has done so many times this season, converted.
It wasn’t a tape-measure home run, but a simple piece of hitting, attacking a fastball on the inner half of the plate and lining it to the opposite field. It was the latest example why, even on days when he’s not catching, he’s in the lineup, hitting.
“Ding’s doing so good,” said catcher Jake Rogers, who added an RBI single while Dingler started at DH. “He’s an All-Star player. My job is to give him a break every once in a while.”
Dingler is batting .292 (21-for-72) with a .958 OPS and 35 RBIs with runners in scoring position. When those RISP opportunities come with two outs, he’s even tougher, batting .375 (15-for-40) with five homers, 25 RBIs and a 1.318 OPS. He has nearly twice as many hits in such situations as strikeouts (eight).
“We rely on him to just be a threat,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “And no matter where I’ve put him, he has continued his discipline. He has also continued his intent. I think he knows what he wants to do when he goes up there, and he knows the difficulties of the job.
“I mean, these are DH days. He knows he’s going to be right back in there tomorrow behind the plate, and he prepares for his at-bats just like he prepares for the opponent on defense. And so, when he’s able to execute a plan, he doesn’t try to do too much. I know we say that all the time when guys get the base hit up the middle or the line drive to right-center, but it’s true. He’s not in launch mode, but he can launch, and he showed it today.”
Dingler found his launch mode later, sending a Trevor Richards fastball 430 feet to the deepest part of Comerica Park’s cavernous left-center field for a 4-1 lead. It was his third-longest homer of the season, according to Statcast, and the longest homer in his June barrage. He would’ve had a three-hit day if not for a leaping grab by White Sox second baseman Sam Antonacci to snare a line drive up the middle with a 96% hit probability.
As is, he’s still 18-for-42 with seven extra-base hits, 10 runs scored and nine RBIs over his last 10 games.
He’s still trailing Shea Langeliers, Alejandro Kirk and Adley Rutschman in All-Star voting among American League catchers despite leading all MLB catchers in fWAR and all qualified AL catchers in wRC+. The top two finishers in this phase of balloting, which ends at noon ET on June 25, advance to the final phase.
With Alex Avila, the last Tigers All-Star catcher and the AL starter in 2011, in attendance – he’s in town for a book signing this weekend – Saturday was a nice addition to Dingler’s election campaign.
“I just love his consistency and how he goes about his business,” Hinch said. “He’s been huge for us. He’s having a great year for us. He’s going to get recognized for it, I would think, coming in the middle part of the season. But I don’t know where we would be without him.”