Dillon Dingler Go-Ahead Double Tigers Win
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Dillon Dingler’s go-ahead RBI double in the eighth inning shows why the best catchers in baseball are weapons at the plate, not just behind it.
Two weeks ago, we wrote about Dillon Dingler’s pitch framing — the quiet, invisible craft that makes him one of the most valuable catchers in baseball. On Wednesday July 23, 2026, he made some noise with his bat.
The Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals were locked at 3-3 heading into the eighth inning at Comerica Park. Two outs. Hao-Yu Lee on second. Dingler stepped in.
He lined a two-out RBI double down the left-field line. Lee scored. Tigers 4, Royals 3.
Detroit held on. The final was 4-3, and the Tigers have now won 14 of their last 19 games since the All-Star break.
None of that surprises anyone who has been watching Dingler this year. His numbers through the first half say everything a scout needs to hear.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Home Runs | 19 |
| RBI | 60 |
| OPS | .831 |
| OPS+ | 127 |
| fWAR (leads all MLB catchers) | 3.8 |
The 127 OPS+ means Dingler is producing 27 percent above the average major leaguer at the plate. Among every catcher in baseball, he leads in fWAR — wins above replacement, the all-in-one measure of how much a player contributes — entering the second half.
The résumé behind the numbers is just as clean. Dingler won the American League Gold Glove Award at catcher in 2025 — given each year to the best defender at the position — and this summer he earned his first All-Star selection. He became the first Tigers catcher to make the Midsummer Classic since Alex Avila in 2011. Fifteen years. Dingler made his MLB debut on July 29, 2024.
He has moved fast.
The double on Wednesday was not a fluke. It was the same player doing what he has done all season — working counts, staying disciplined, and driving the ball when a team needs it most.
What a catcher can learn from this
The assumption about catchers is that defense is the whole job. Frame the pitch. Block the dirt ball. Throw the runner out. Call a good game. Those things matter enormously.
Dingler has the audacity to do all of that and still be the one who breaks a tie game in the eighth inning.
Audacity — a refusal to accept a smaller role — is the right word for it. A catcher who only develops behind the plate is a specialist. A catcher who also develops at the plate becomes a weapon. The pitcher on the other side is supposed to breathe easier when the catcher’s spot comes up. Dingler has spent two years making that assumption expensive.
If you catch, that eighth-inning at-bat is worth thinking about. Two outs. Tie game. The moment calls for someone to do something. The work you put in with your swing — not just your pop time, not just your blocking, but your actual hitting — is what puts you in a position to be that someone.
Sweat the gear. Then pick up the bat.
Try this at your next practice
- Two-strike situational hitting. Set up a tee or have your coach soft-toss with a 0-2 or 1-2 count called before each rep. Your only goal: put the ball in play to the opposite field. Dingler’s double went to left-field — that is not an accident. Two-strike hitting means going where the pitch takes you.
- Late-inning mental reps. Before batting practice starts, close your eyes and imagine: two outs, tie game, eighth inning. Picture the count, the runner on base, the fielders. Then step in and take your swings with that scenario running in your head. The goal is to stop treating batting practice as low-stakes — every rep should feel like the eighth inning.
- Opposite-field toss drill. Stand on the left side of the batter’s box (right-handed) or right side (lefty). Coach tosses outside-third pitches only. Hit everything to the opposite field. This builds the mechanics behind Dingler’s double — the patient, down-the-line stroke that goes the other way when the moment calls for it.
Sources: Tigers 4-3 Royals game recap (Washington Post) · Dillon Dingler Tigers second-half burst (Southern Sports Today) · Dillon Dingler 2026 season (Tigers Intelligence Report) · Dingler Tigers first All-Star catcher in 15 years (SI)
