While Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene top the list of prospects on a loaded Double-A Erie roster, it didn’t take long for Dillon Dingler to make himself at home with the SeaWolves. In the process, he put on a show last week in his backyard.
With a loud contingent of family and friends at Canal Park in Akron, Ohio, having made the short drive from his hometown of Massillon, Dingler went 7-for-21 with two triples, a double, a home run and seven RBIs in five games. Beyond the numbers, he hit hard line drives all over the field, making the same quick adjustment to Double-A pitching that he did at High-A West Michigan a month earlier.
Ten games into Dingler’s Double-A tenure, the Tigers’ No. 4 prospect per MLB Pipeline is batting .316 (12-for-38) with an .875 OPS — not far from the .925 OPS he posted for the Whitecaps before that.
“Honestly, I think it’s just getting used to the team and getting used to how things go in general,” Dingler said just before the Akron trip. “I feel even more comfortable than I did yesterday, so it’s kind of working. You just have to trust the process and trust your own preparation and stuff like that.”
The Tigers trusted their scouting reports when Dingler fell out of the first round in last year’s MLB Draft. He had been an intriguing, athletic prospect at Ohio State, starting his career in center field before shifting behind the plate. Even when Detroit invited him to Summer Camp a year ago to help catch pitchers and learn about preparation at the Major League level, he made a quick impression on Hall of Famer Alan Trammell by shagging fly balls in the outfield during batting practice.
The offense was a mystery. Dingler’s brief 2020 season with the Buckeyes was a hint of his explosive offense, as he hit .340 (17-for-50) with four doubles, five homers, 14 RBIs and a 1.164 OPS in 13 games. But like with every college player, the COVID-19 pandemic ended his season before he could build on his strong start — and before some teams could send their Midwest-based scouts to see him in person.
The Tigers had an early look and took advantage, snagging him with the first pick of the second round. But they weren’t expecting an early splash quite like this.
The 22-year-old Dingler has taken charge both at the plate and behind it. He has thrown out 11 of 34 would-be basestealers between West Michigan and Erie while picking off runners at second and third base with strong-armed throws.
“You try to pick your spots,” Dingler said. “If a pitcher is struggling a little bit to get it going, or if he has a tough hitter up, you try to take a chance and try to get [the runner] out. It’s like carefree for him the next hitter [after that], nobody on. It has been part of my game for a while now, but you try to pick your spots in big situations to help your pitcher out.”
At the plate, meanwhile, he has had a coveted spot batting behind Torkelson at both levels. When Torkelson missed a couple of games last week with a heel issue, Dingler stepped into the No. 3 spot with ease, including a two-triple performance in Akron last Thursday — one nearly a homer to center, the other an opposite-field line drive to right.
The next night, Dingler crushed another opposite-field drive, this time clearing the fence in right-center to score Greene and account for both SeaWolves runs in a 2-1 win. It was almost as impressive as the tape-measure grand slam he sent out of the ballpark for West Michigan at Great Lakes on June 3.
“It surprised me a little bit,” Dingler admitted about the grand slam. “I looked up and I looked at the left fielder, and I saw he didn’t move, so that’s when I figured out what was going on. It kind of caught me by surprise.
“It was a good week for me, and it helped me figure out some things that keep me in the right mindset.”
A few weeks later, he had another one of those weeks, one level up.