Boston — Manager AJ Hinch was asked Wednesday what it says about his lineup that catcher Dillon Dingler now bats smack-dab in the middle of it, either fourth or fifth depending on the opponent’s starting pitcher?
“Just look across the way and you can see the kind of impact a guy like that can have on an organization winning,” he said.
That guy across the way was Royals catcher Salvador Perez, a nine-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner who, when he was just a couple pf years younger than Dingler is now, was one of the catalysts of the Royals’ World Series run in 2014 and he was the MVP in 2015 when they won the World Series.
It’s high praise for Dingler, in other words.
“It’s a physically demanding and mentally demanding position,” Hinch said. “A lot of times people look at the catching position and say that anything you get behind the plate offensively is a plus. We’re not just getting plus, we’re getting a lot more than that.”
After shredding Royals pitching in the two games he played (4 for 9), Dingler leads American League catchers with 14 RBIs. He’s second in OPS (.933), homers (four) and slugging percentage (.566), and he’s third in on-base percentage (.367).
Not bad for a guy whose reputation in the minors was as a defense-first catcher.
“His (offensive) game-planning has sharpened,” Hinch said. “His confidence to commit to what he’s trying to do against a particular pitcher has gotten better. And he finds the barrel a lot.”
His barrel rate (21%) ranks in the 95th percentile in baseball. His 93 mph average exit velocity ranks in the 90th percentile. His 60.5% hard-hit rate ranks in the 97th percentile.
“He’s satisfied with a simple single but he knows he can drive the ball and get extra-base hits and drive it out of the ballpark,” Hinch said. “And he does it while we are all over him between innings about pitch-calling, his set-up and running the game behind the plate.”
Hinch made the decision to move Dingler up in the order at the same time he moved a then-scuffling Spencer Torkelson down. But it wasn’t a direct cause-and-effect.
“That was all about Ding,” Hinch said. “The way he was adjusting. His swing decisions. How hard he was hitting the ball. The quality of at-bat. It was more about getting him up to bat a little faster.”
Somebody had to move down, though. And it was Torkelson.
“You look at the structure of a lineup and you think you just shove all the hitters up at the same time,” Hinch said. “But strategically, the way we separate our right-handed hitters, it coincided with moving Tork down. I didn’t want Tork and Ding bunched together where (the opponent) can get a free shot with one right-handed reliever.
“But it wasn’t then and isn’t now an indictment of Tork.”
But now, as both Torkelson and lefty-swinging Kerry Carpenter, have heated up, the move has effectively lengthened the Tigers’ lineup.
“Oh, for sure,” Hinch said. “I remember one year (in Houston) I had a lineup where the No. 9 hitter had 20 home runs. The more you can pressure the pitcher through a lineup the better.”
Dingler, in just his second full season, is putting himself in the conversation as one of the best two-way catchers in the game. Not that he likes talking about himself much. He’s a stoic as they come, whether things are going great or not so great.
“Separating offense and defense, that’s a really good trait to have behind the plate,” Hinch said. “Clearly, the defensive side was his calling card coming up. But to be able to produce through the minor leagues and maintain the hitting side as the responsibilities grow in the big leagues, that’s really big.
“His preparedness is his key. He’s very, very consistent in how he prepares for a game, with the bat and glove. That might be the single biggest thing I am impressed by.”
Dingler, among the best pitch-framers in the game (plus-7 last season, plus-1 already this year), also has adapted quickly to the ABS challenge system. He’s correctly challenged and overturned nine of 11 borderline calls.
“I’m getting to that point where, with a few games under my belt behind the plate, I’m starting to know the zone a little bit more, especially on the corners,” Dingler told reporters after a game last week. “The corners are going to stay the same. Obviously, the toughest ones are the up-and-down ones.
“It’s mostly just trusting yourself. … Personally, it’s more about the feeling of catching a ball and the umpire saying ‘ball,’ and you’re like, argh. I’m starting to challenge those a little more.”
Gold Glove defender, impactful middle of the order bat, trusted handler of a pitching staff that features two multiple Cy Young winners and the games active saves leader, and a strike stealer — useful.
“He’s developed into a real stable part of a good team,” Hinch said.
To say the least.
Tigers at Red Sox
First pitch: 4:10 p.m. Saturday, Fenway Park, Boston
TV/radio: Detroit Sports Net, 97.1 GM
Scouting report
LHP Tarik Skubal (2-2, 2.22), Tigers: He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Marlins last time out and ended up with only two hits and a run on his ledger for 6.2 innings. By most pitchers’ standard, his changeup remains elite (hitters are 5 for 28 with 11 strikeouts, plus a 48% whiff rate). But he wasn’t happy with it against the Marlins. To his point, the Statcast run value on the changeup through four starts is one. It was plus-12 last season.
RHP Brayan Bello (1-1, 6.14), Red Sox: He took a step forward in his last start, holding the Cardinals to two runs over 6.2 innings, but he’s been grinding early. He walked as many as he’s struck out (nine) and the velocity is down on his sinker and cutter. He still gets a lot of chase (32%) and whiff (34.6%), particularly with his changeup (to lefties) and sweeper (to righties).
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