Two Young Detroit Tigers Standouts Showing Improvement in Key Area Offensively

Two Detroit Tigers building blocks are showing encouraging improvement in one key area at the plate.

Feb 23, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Detroit Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler (13) runs the bases after hitting a two run home run against the New York Yankees in the fourth inning during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

If the Detroit Tigers are going to build upon the positive momentum they found down the stretch of the 2024 campaign, they need to get their offense on track more consistently.

In the playoffs, the Tigers managed to score only 21 runs in seven games. It was a struggle during the regular season as well, where they finished in the bottom half of the league in most offensive statistics.

If Detroit is going to improve this year, it will be on the back of internal improvement from the younger players on the team.

The only outside addition the team made in the lineup this winter was second baseman Gleyber Torres. He will be taking over at the keystone, pushing Colt Keith to first base and Spencer Torkelson out of the starting lineup altogether.

Moving to first base, there will be an expectation on Keith to provide a little more power to fit the profile of the position.

During his rookie season, he hit 13 home runs with 15 doubles, resulting in a .380 slugging percentage. His average exit velocity of 87.8 mph and hard hit rate of 35.3% were both below average as well.

But, there is some hope he can get things going in the power department in 2025 because of an encouraging development in spring training; he is swinging the bat harder.

Keith averaged 71.3 mph on his swing speed in 2024.

During the spring, he has managed to increase that to 74 mph, per Jon Anderson on X.

The 2.7 mph increase is the 16th-highest jump amongst the players who were analyzed.

With Keith already being a solid contact hitter, that could lead to more serious damage being done at the plate.

He isn’t the only young Tigers player on the list who is showcasing a more aggressive swing in the spring, either.

Catcher Dillon Dingler was a few spots above the new first baseman, increasing his own swing speed by 3.4 mph, going from 71.6 mph last year to 75.0 mpg this spring.

That is the threshold where swing speed begins to be considered a “fast-swing” where the player’s results begin to improve.

Dingler is proving that notion correct with his performance at the plate during the Grapefruit League games thus far.

He has made 17 plate appearances and produced a .313/.353/.625 slash line with one home run and two doubles, knocking in five runs.

A second-round pick in the 2020 MLB draft out of Ohio State University, he made his debut in 2024 and struggled mightily.

But the increased swing speed could lead to better production at the plate and a chance to earn more at-bats during the regular season.

His main competition behind the plate, Jake Rogers, has not hit well during the spring and has only one stretch in 2021 performing above league-average with the bat.

With increased swing speeds for both Keith and Dingler, they could see their offensive numbers jump.