Young Tigers Bat Could Turn Into Offensive X-Factor For Detroit

The young player initially split time at his position for AJ Hinch and the Detroit Tigers. Now, he could turn into one of the most important pieces on the team.

Detroit Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler (13) celebrates scoring a run against Boston Red Sox with center fielder Javier Báez (28) during the sixth inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Detroit Tigers' road to the best record in baseball through late May has been built on the backs of their young players. Make no mistake, Tarik Skubal is worth every ounce of praise he gets. But top to bottom, the Tigers have one of the most complete batting orders in all of baseball with no "real superstar" to speak of.

All of Detroit's most reputable bats are 30 years old or younger. Riley Green (24), Kerry Carpenter (27), Justyn-Henry Malloy (25), Colt Keith (23), Gleyber Torres (28), and Spencer Torkelson (25) make up the core of the team and many of them haven't reached their ceiling yet.

But one young player has been lost in the shuffle, and if he keeps up the numbers he's having, there's no limit to what the Tigers offense can look like.

May 18, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Detroit Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler (13) hits a single against the Toronto Blue Jays during the sixth inning at Rogers Centre. | Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images

Dillon Dingler has been exceptional at the catcher position for manager AJ Hinch and company.

According to Baseball Savant, the metrics indicate that Dingler is one of the best, if not the best, defensive catchers in baseball. His Blocks Above Average is in the 100th percentile, and his framing is in the 89th percentile.

With young, developing pitchers on the roster like Jackson Jobe and Reese Olsen, having a catcher with elite defensive skills like Dingler can make a world of difference

His bat has been very impressive, slashing .292/.319/.462 with 38 hits and four home runs. His xBA is sitting at .291, just one point shy of his actual batting average. Translation: he's not getting lucky, he's just hitting really good.

He does not walk a whole ton, giving him room to grow in his at-the-plate understanding of the zone. But he's not worried, and neither is Hinch.

“We would never bring that up as something we’d want as a goal — like, to walk,” Hinch said to Chris McCosky of The Detroit News. “We will talk a lot about making sure you get a good pitch to hit and making sure you stay inside the zone and you are swinging at pitches you can drive."