Dillon Dingler

Dillon Dingler
Dingler with the Erie SeaWolves in 2021
Detroit Tigers – No. 13
Catcher
Born: (1998-09-17) September 17, 1998
Massillon, Ohio, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
MLB debut
July 29, 2024, for the Detroit Tigers
MLB statistics
(through 2025 season)
Batting average.260
Home runs14
Runs batted in68
Stats at Baseball Reference 
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Francis Dillon Dingler (born September 17, 1998) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2024, and won a Gold Glove Award in 2025.

Amateur career

Dingler attended Jackson High School in Jackson Township, Ohio, where he played baseball, basketball, and football, leading Jackson to state championships in both basketball and baseball his senior year.[1][2][3] He was teammates with fellow major leaguer Kyle Nicolas.[4] Undrafted in the 2017 Major League Baseball draft, he enrolled at Ohio State University where he played college baseball for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

As a freshman at Ohio State in 2018, Dingler batted .244 with four home runs and 17 RBIs over 53 games.[5] He earned Big Ten Conference All-Freshman honors.[6] In 2019, his sophomore year, he was named a team captain.[7] He missed 19 games during the season due to a broken hamate bone in his left hand.[8] Over 49 games, he slashed .291/.392/.424 with three home runs and 19 RBIs, and was named to the All-Big Ten second team.[9][10] As a junior in 2020, Dingler once again was named a team captain.[11] He hit .340 with five home runs and 14 RBIs over 13 games before the college baseball season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12]

Professional career

Minor leagues

The Detroit Tigers selected Dingler in the second round, with the 38th overall pick in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft.[13] He signed for $1.93 million.[14] He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[15] To begin the 2021 season, he was assigned to the West Michigan Whitecaps of the High-A Central.[16] After slashing .287/.376/.549 with eight home runs and 24 RBI over 32 games, he was promoted to the Erie SeaWolves of the Double-A Northeast on June 13.[17] In early August, he was placed on the injured list with a finger injury.[18] He returned to play in early September.[19] Over 50 games with Erie, Dingler batted .202/.264/.314 with four home runs and twenty RBI.[20] He returned to Erie for the 2022 season.[21] He was selected to represent the Tigers at the 2022 All-Star Futures Game.[22] Over 107 games with Erie, Dingler slashed .238/.333/.419 with 14 home runs, 58 RBI, and 22 doubles.[23] He was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League for the Salt River Rafters after the season.[24]

On March 16, 2023, it was reported that Dingler would be out for four weeks after undergoing a meniscectomy procedure on his right knee.[25] After hitting .253 with 9 home runs and 41 RBI in 51 games for Double–A Erie, Dingler was promoted to the Triple–A Toledo Mud Hens in August 15.[26] In 26 games for Toledo, he hit .202 with three home runs and nine RBI.

On November 14, 2023, the Tigers added Dingler to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. He was optioned to Triple–A Toledo to begin the 2024 season.[27] Over 71 games with Toledo, he hit .308 with 17 home runs and 52 RBIs.[28]

Major leagues

On July 29, 2024, Dingler was promoted to the major leagues for the first time.[29] Dingler's first career hit was an RBI double on July 29, 2024 against the Cleveland Guardians.[30] Dingler hit his first career home run on August 11 against the San Francisco Giants.[31] Dingler batted .167/.195/.310 with one home run and 11 RBIs in the 2024 season with the Tigers.[32]

Dingler started the 2025 season splitting time with 2024 starting catcher Jake Rogers. Rogers was placed on the injured list and when he returned, Dingler's positive performance (.289 batting average, plus-6 Defensive Runs Saved rating as of May 29) allowed him to remain the starter, catching approximately twice as often as Rogers.[33] Dingler led the 2025 Tigers with a .278 batting average, while adding 13 home runs and 57 RBI. Behind the plate, he had zero passed balls and threw out 31.7 percent of potential base stealers, first in the AL among catchers with a minimum of 50 SB attempts and well above the league average of 21.5 percent. On November 2, 2025, Dingler was awarded his first career Gold Glove Award for American League catchers.[34] He is the first Tiger player to win a Gold Glove since Ian Kinsler in 2016, and the first Tiger catcher to win the award since Iván Rodríguez in 2007.[35]

Prior to the 2026 season, Dingler underwent arthoscopic surgery and began his play at spring training by participating in a throwing program and catching bullpen sessions.[36][37]

References

  1. ^ Weir, Josh. "Jackson's Dillon Dingler and Kyle Nicolas are back for more". The Columbus Dispatch.
  2. ^ Weir, Josh. "Jackson's Dillon Dingler relishing sixth-man role with basketball team". The Repository.
  3. ^ Easterling, Chris. "After the Headlines: State titles push Jackson hoops, baseball to new levels". Ashland Times-Gazette.
  4. ^ "Watch former Jackson teammates Dillon Dingler, Kyle Nicolas face each other in Double-A baseball". Canton Repository. Retrieved March 10, 2026.
  5. ^ Weir, Josh. "The adaptation of Ohio State's Dillon Dingler". The Repository.
  6. ^ "Six Buckeyes selected for All-Big Ten baseball teams". Bucknuts.
  7. ^ "Baseball: Dillon Dingler on pace to make Ohio State history". The Lantern. February 21, 2019.
  8. ^ Znidar, Mark (September 30, 2019). "Dingler Ready For Big Season After Surgery… — Press Pros Magazine". Press Pros Magazine.
  9. ^ "Dillon Dingler seeks consistency at the plate". Baseball Prospect Journal. February 12, 2020.
  10. ^ "Check out the 2019 All-Big Ten Baseball Team". May 21, 2019.
  11. ^ "Carpenter, Dingler Named Captains for 2020". Ohio State. January 9, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2025.
  12. ^ Weir, Josh. "Jackson alums Dillon Dingler, Kyle Nicolas make most of shortened college baseball season". Record-Courier.
  13. ^ McCosky, Chris. "Tigers load up on polished position players — OSU catcher Dingler, LSU outfielder Cabrera". Detroit News.
  14. ^ Topkin, Marc (June 19, 2020). "Rays sign Alika Williams, shortstop from Arizona State taken 37th in draft". Tampa Bay Times.
  15. ^ "2020 Minor League Baseball Season Cancelled".
  16. ^ "New faces, talent highlight 2021 Whitecaps". WOOD-TV. May 3, 2021.
  17. ^ "Detroit Tigers prospects Spencer Torkelson, Dillon Dingler promoted to Double-A Erie". Detroit Free Press.
  18. ^ "Tigers' Dillon Dingler: Out at least two weeks". CBSSports.com. August 8, 2021.
  19. ^ "Tigers' Dillon Dingler: Returns from injured list". CBSSports.com. September 2, 2021.
  20. ^ Stavenhagen, Cody (January 4, 2022). "These are the Tigers' most important prospects at each position". The New York Times.
  21. ^ "SeaWolves Announce Initial 2022 Roster". MiLB.com.
  22. ^ Mayo, Jonathan (July 7, 2022). "Here are the 2022 Futures Game rosters". MLB.com. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  23. ^ "Dillon Dingler Stats, Fantasy & News".
  24. ^ "The Arizona Fall League rosters are here – and they're loaded". MLB.com.
  25. ^ "Tigers' Dillon Dingler: Undergoes surgery on right knee". cbssports.com. March 16, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  26. ^ "Tigers promote catching prospect to Toledo; infielder released". mLive. August 15, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  27. ^ "Tigers make 10 cuts as spring roster trimmed again". mlive.com. March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  28. ^ Weir, Josh. "MLB: Detroit Tigers promote Jackson High School and Ohio State product Dillon Dingler". Canton Repository. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  29. ^ Woodbery, Evan (July 29, 2024). "Tigers make flurry of transactions, including promotion of Dillon Dingler". mlive. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
  30. ^ Bell, Mandy (July 30, 2024). "José Ramírez has two-homer game against Tigers". MLB.com. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
  31. ^ Beck, Jason (August 12, 2024). "Dillon Dingler hits first career home run in Tigers' win". MLB.com. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  32. ^ "Dillon Dingler Career Stats - MLB".
  33. ^ Petzold, Evan (May 30, 2025). "Detroit Tigers catcher Jake Rogers puts team first after shifting to backup role". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved June 13, 2025.
  34. ^ Randhawa, Manny (November 2, 2025). "9 first-timers highlight 2025 Gold Glove winners". MLB.com. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
  35. ^ Paul, Tony (November 2, 2025). "'Awesome journey': Tigers' Dillon Dingler wins American League Gold Glove Award". The Detroit News. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  36. ^ Petzold, Evan. "Dillon Dingler injury: Tigers catcher limited in camp after surgery". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  37. ^ Beck, Jason. "Dingler ramping up slowly at camp after recent right elbow surgery". MLB.com. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.