Detroit – Dillon Dingler, in his first full season in the big leagues, is a finalist for a Gold Glove award.
Dingler, Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk and Boston’s Carlos Narvaez are the three American League catcher finalists. The winner will be announced Sunday, Nov. 2.
“I believe in presence. I believe in stability,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said about Dingler during the Wild Card Series. “What a pitching staff needs is the guy behind the plate to know what they’re going to get regardless of the ups and downs on the offensive side.
“Our pitchers trust him. You have to earn that. You can’t just show up, be a big-leaguer, put on a big-league uniform and get that. Inevitably, you have to go out and do it.”
Dingler took over the primary catcher duties after Jake Rogers injured his oblique in April and never relinquished them. He ended up catching 1,012 innings in the regular season and every inning of every game in the postseason.
His home run broke a 1-1 tie in the clinching Game 3 of the Wild Card Series. He also threw out Jose Ramirez trying to steal second base in the fourth inning. Those were two pivotal plays that helped the Tigers advance to the division series.
Per Statcast metrics, Dingler finished with a plus-12 rating in catcher runs. Kirk led all catchers in that category with plus-22.
Dingler ranked in the top 95 percentile with a plus-10 rating in blocks and in the 91st percentile with a plus-7 in framing. He was plus-4 in throwing out runners.
Kirk had better numbers in those categories, as well.
“Dillon stepped up when Jake got hurt early in the year and just ran with the opportunity,” Hinch said. “But he never stopped preparing. He never stopped fighting. He never stopped trying to get better.
“He’s emerging as a front-line catcher because of all that work he’s doing and the credibility he’s gaining and the trust that he’s already gotten.”
Offensively, Dingler hit .278 with a .327 on-base percentage and .752 OPS, with 13 homers.
Rogers was a finalist last season but it’s been 18 years since a Tigers’ catcher won a Gold Glove (Pudge Rodriguez in 2007).
@cmccosky