Tigers' Dillon Dingler named MLB's best catcher by ESPN originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Detroit Tigers made the most significant decision at the trade deadline, sending back-to-back AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Yet, the AL Central club has won seven of its last 10 games and is still in the hunt for the division title.
As of Thursday morning, the Tigers are 3.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox. One of the main reasons for Detroit's success is catcher Dillon Dingler's career year.
Dingler is one of Major League Baseball's premier backstops. In the eyes of ESPN's Bradford Doolittle, he is the "best" in baseball by a wide margin.
Dingler named MLB's best catcher by ESPN
"Dingler had already established himself as a good-field/average-hit backstop entering this season," Doolittle wrote. "But an explosion with the bat, combined with continued sterling defense, has made him more than baseball's best catcher this season -- it has made him one of the best players in MLB, full stop."
Dingler already has 4.6 bWAR and earned his first All-Star selection. In 111 games this season, he's hitting .267/.330/.514 with 26 home runs and an .845 OPS.
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His 26 homers double last year's total of 13 in 126 games. Statistically, he's enjoying one of the best seasons by a catcher in Tigers history.
"At this point, his fWAR ranks third on the single-season list of Detroit's proud lineage of catchers, one that includes Mickey Cochrane, Bill Freehan, Rudy York, Ivan Rodriguez and Lance Parrish," Doolittle added. "With six weeks left in the season, Dingler might well pass two Freehan seasons (1967 and 1968) as the best by a Tigers catcher."
In all likelihood, Dingler will not be in the MVP race. But he could win his second consecutive Gold Glove and help the Tigers clinch a postseason berth.
More MLB news:
- Phillies receive slightly worrying 65% playoff odds projection from ESPN
- Red Sox get 8.2% chance to win World Series, which is more than Yankees’ odds
- Dave Dombrowski reveals why Phillies didn't trade for a righty-hitting outfielder
- Brewers ‘toyed’ with idea of trading for Padres closer Mason Miller
- Tigers feared Tarik Skubal’s trade market would disappear if they waited too long to trade him