The Tigers have spent enough time watching Dillon Dingler to know this isn’t a fluke. Now the rest of baseball is finally getting the message.
Detroit’s catcher is stacking up a monster month, and the numbers are starting to look ridiculous. In August, Dingler is hitting .357 with a 1.098 OPS, three homers, and seven RBI.
For the season, he’s up to 26 homers and 79 RBI, both team highs by a wide margin. He also torched the Mariners in their series, going 7-for-14 and homering in each game.
And he’s doing it from behind the plate, which is the part that pushes this from hot streak to full-blown star turn. Dingler isn’t just producing; he’s doing it as one of the best defensive catchers in the sport, elite by nearly every metric that matters.
The advanced numbers back up the eye test. His 5.1 fWAR ranks fourth in baseball, trailing only Pete Crow-Armstrong, Shohei Ohtani, and Yordan Alvarez. Alvarez is putting together an incredible season of his own - he’s on pace for the first MLB Triple Crown since Mickey Mantle in 1956 - but Dingler has made sure there’s no clean separation between the two in the bigger-picture conversation.
That’s why Jack Flaherty said the quiet part out loud during Dingler’s 3-for-6 night in the Mariners finale.
Ding belongs in a certain conversation
- Jack Flaherty (@jflare_) August 6, 2026
It’s not hard to see where that idea comes from. If Alvarez cools off late, or if the usual anti-DH bias creeps back into the MVP discussion, Dingler could absolutely force his way into the mix. That’s especially true in a season where both MVP races suddenly feel open again.
The National League picture is no longer the formality it looked like before. Ohtani is still in the mix, but injuries have cost him ground to Crow-Armstrong.
In the American League, Judge has been sidelined since May, and there’s no clear timetable for his return. Bobby Witt Jr. looked like the next obvious name, but he’s also spent time on the IL.
No one is questioning Alvarez’s season. By almost every measure, he’s the best hitter in the game right now.
But Dingler’s case is different. He brings more to the table than a bat.
He’s playing a fuller game, and he’s becoming an elite player on both sides of the ball.
He’s already one.
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Tigers Farm System Is Entering The Dodgers Conversation
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What makes the comparison with Los Angeles feel even more relevant is how both clubs have turned prospect development into a competitive advantage. Detroit has recently produced several promising young players, and the broader conversation now is whether this wave is sturdy enough to keep feeding the big-league roster the way the sports best pipelines do. For a franchise trying to build something lasting, that kind of company is a sign the foundation is getting stronger. [Read more 🡒]